


Wynonna The Vampire Slayer

by CatieFerrarer17



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV), wayhaught - Fandom
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-31 16:30:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 218,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12136509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatieFerrarer17/pseuds/CatieFerrarer17
Summary: After disaster struck in LA, Wynonna and her mother move to Purgatory for a new start where Wynonna tries to ignore her calling. However, living on a hellmouth, with all its demonic activity, doesn't allow a slayer to avoid her duties. As she begins to make friends and form a new life, she has to protect them and all of the Purgatory residents from things that go bump in the night. These include Waverly, a sassy cheerleader who finds herself pursuing a new unexpected power whilst being pursued by a mysterious stranger, and Jeremy, who was once an outcast but now the integral part of the group with his intelligence and discovering new powers of his own.





	1. Welcome to Purgatory Part 1

With a deflated release of breath, Wynonna looked out over the town that was to be her home. Only a few locals hurried along with their business in the uninspiring high street littered with only a few shops and cafes. It was hardly a place that would motivate a teenager. It was certainly going to be a lot different to living in the city. Behind her, the beep of the horn in her mother’s car told her that Alice had returned from the bank and was ready for them to make their way to their new house. Wynonna cast her eyes unimpressed over the town once more before turning and taking her place once again in the front passenger seat.

With an amused smirk, Wynonna’s mother examined her brooding daughter, ‘oh come on, it’s not that bad.’

‘No,’ sulked Wynonna. ‘It’s worse.’

 

As the miles of fields rolled around them, Wynonna continued to feel her heart sink at where her mother had chosen for them to start again. It had been at least twenty minutes since she had seen another house and even longer since she had laid eyes upon anyone her age. Finally, her mother turned the car off the uneven road onto a gravel dirt track which snaked its way around another hillside. Once around it, their eyes fell upon a small group of houses at the base of the hill. It looked like something out of an old western and Wynonna was not amused.

She glared sideways, ‘are you kidding me?’

‘No darling, I am not,’ Alice replied not rising to Wynonna’s irritated tone. ‘And before you continue your teenage tirade at me, I think you need to remember that this is your fault.’

Unable to reply, Wynonna folded her arms over her chest and slumped back in her seat. She turned her head so she could watch the few houses pass by as they made their way through them. She counted only five in total, all with small barns and surrounded by fences marking their ground. Most had pickup trucks or motorbikes sitting outside. The attention of any residents who were standing or sitting outside was immediately drawn to the new arrivals as the car passed by. Wynonna didn’t spot anyone a single teenager. She opened her mouth to speak, but remembering her mother’s words she refrained from doing so and kept her infuriation to herself.

At the end of the gravel road, Alice pulled the car into the house sitting a little further away from the others. All the others had their front doors opening up to the road, but this one was facing away towards the fields as if it had been cast aside. Still slumped in her chair, Wynonna pushed herself up to get a better look as the car came to a halt in the drive. As it did, Wynonna realised they had passed under a simple wooden arch which marked the beginning of the drive way. From this a fence, like the others but a little shabbier, marked out what was to be their land.

‘Here we are dear,’ Alice smiled cheerily. Wynonna knew she was doing it to mock her so simply rolled her eyes in return. ‘Come on… you might feel better when you check it out.’

Wynonna didn’t believe this for a second, but she had no choice. Following her mother’s lead she undid her seatbelt and after throwing it to one side slid her body out of the car. Looking back up the path, she could see that they were being watched by any residents that had witnessed their entrance.

‘Damn small down people,’ Wynonna muttered slamming the door shut and looking up at her new home. She had to admit that the surrounded landscape was extraordinary, but for someone who loved to socialise and try to live life to the full, it also seemed incredibly bleak.

‘Well hey there!’ the call was so cheery it caused Wynonna to almost jump out of her leather boots. Turning towards the sound her eyes fell upon the only the other person near her age she had seen for miles. Standing shorter than herself, the smiley girl’s long brown hair cascaded down over a blue and white cheerleading uniform which she clearly wore with pride from the way she was standing in it.

‘Hi,’ Wynonna replied a little caught off guard.

‘I’m Waverly,’ she smiled extended a hand. Wynonna took it a little dubiously. ‘I live over there,’ she pointed to one of the houses back in the group. ‘My guardian saw you arrive and thought I should come and say hello… so, here I am… hello.’ She waved with a geeky grin and Wynonna settled on the fact she was talking to a nerd.

‘It is a relief to see someone else who doesn’t look like they’re about to retire around here,’ Wynonna said.

Waverly allowed herself to laugh, ‘nope, we are around, just very spread out as you can imagine.’ She gestured to the landscape around them. ‘You get used to it. So where are you from?’

‘LA,’ Wynonna replied. She missed it already.

Waverly chuckled, ‘oh wow… this will be a shock.’

‘Yeah,’ Wynonna nodded. ‘I’m starting to get that.’

‘Well… I better let you get on,’ Waverly said her voice continuing to remain unwaveringly cheery. ‘Will I see you at school tomorrow?’

‘Oh crap… school,’ the memory seemed to hit a nerve, something she had to quickly hide from Waverly. ‘I guess you will.’

Waverly had noted the unease she saw in Wynonna’s face but decided to brush past it, ‘alrighty then, see you tomorrow.’ With one last bright smile, she turned on her heels and walked briskly back to her house. Wynonna watched as an older short haired woman greeted Waverly, clearly asking questions about Wynonna and her mother. They disappeared into the house deep in conversation.

‘Wynonna!’ another voice that made her jump. She wasn’t usually so on edge, but it had been a very challenging few months. Something which again, she knew was her fault. ‘Are you actually coming to help me unpack?’ Behind the car they had towed a large trailer in which they had packed all their needed belongings. They had discovered that the house they had bought came with a great deal of furniture allowing them to make a quick exit from LA to start their new life in Purgatory.

‘Yes Mum!’ Wynonna called back through gritted teeth. With one last look around her at the hell in which she was now to be living, she joined her mother at the trailer and began loading her arms up with boxes. There was no going back now.

 

As she walked through the hallways of Purgatory High, she felt an undesirable feeling of dread come over her. She had already done this dance, establishing herself in one school and negotiating her way through the social labyrinth that came with it. Now she had to do it all over again. All eyes were on her as she adjusted the bag on the shoulder of her leather jacket. She avoided as many as she could, until a familiar pair spotted her from the end of the hall.

‘Well hello again,’ Wynonna was actually relieved to see Waverly marching up the hall towards her this time wearing an outfit that looked like it belonged in a fashion magazine. However, this time she was not alone. Beside her followed a red head who seemed to be giving her a very disapproving look. ‘Mercedes, this is Wynonna, the one that’s moved into my street.’

‘Street Waverly,’ Mercedes smirked, ‘I’d hardly call it a street.’

Wynonna caught the hurt look in Waverly’s face as she tried to hide it, ‘well, she’s moved there and I thought you’d like to meet her.’

Mercedes eyes very unsubtly moved up and down Wynonna’s body examining the new girl that stood before her, ‘I guess it’s something we can work with,’ she said. ‘Nice to meet you.’ She held out her hand.

Wynonna took it warily, ‘you too…’ she replied. Then under her breath, ‘I think.’

‘You finding your way around okay?’ Waverly asked.

‘I need to find the principal’s office,’ Wynonna said indicating to a map of the school which had been stuffed into her pocket. ‘I can’t make heads or tails of this thing.’

‘Don’t worry, we’ll show you,’ Waverly smiled kindly. ‘Won’t we Mercedes?’

‘Of course,’ the roll of her eyes as she spoke told Wynonna she would rather be doing anything else.

Uneasily, Wynonna began to follow the strange pair as they lead her back down the corridor, ‘so, Purgatory High,’ Waverly began merrily. ‘The place where the weird and wonderful happens and when I say weird, I mean weird.’

Wynonna tried not to show instant interest in this, ‘what do you mean by weird?’

‘Oh you name it,’ Mercedes chimed in as they turned a corner. ‘Pupil’s going missing, teachers acting strangely and not to mention the noises you hear when you’re here at night.’

‘Why would you be here at night?’ Wynonna asked.

‘Cheerleading practise, football games, group meetings,’ Waverly replied. ‘Trust me… you do not go anywhere on your own around here at after dark. We’ve lost four pupils in the last three months.’

‘Unfortunately the wrong ones,’ Mercedes sneered her eyes fixed upon a boy standing at the drinking fountain. Wynonna followed her gaze to an Asian boy with black curly hair who met their eyes immediately. Quickly he wiped his mouth dry, grabbed his bag and darted through the crowds of pupils to get out of sight. ‘That’s Jeremy. The weirdest kid here. Avoid him like the plague Wynonna. No good will come of hanging out with him.’ Wynonna stood staring at her stunned. She couldn’t believe the cruelty of her words. What surprised her most was the expression on Waverly’s face when she turned her attention to the brunette. She had fallen suddenly silent and awkward.

‘The principal’s office is just around here,’ Waverly said quietly continuing to walk on. Wynonna glanced at Mercedes whose face had remained unmoved, despite the obvious effect of her words, before following Waverly a little further down the corridor. Mercedes was now too focused on her nails to remain with them. After a few paces, Waverly stopped outside an arch way leading to a welcoming area where the principal’s secretary sat busying herself at her desk.

‘Waverly?’ she waited for Waverly to turn back and face her, ‘is she always like that?’

Waverly checked nervously over Wynonna’s shoulder, ‘you don’t want to cross her, she runs this place. She decides who’s in and who’s out. Trust me, you do not want to be out.’

Wynonna frowned stunned, ‘how does one person have all that power?’

‘Money,’ Waverly stated. ‘Her family is rolling in it. They’re the Gardeners.’

‘That name means nothing to me,’ Wynonna shrugged.

‘It will,’ Waverly said. ‘You better go in, she’ll sense something if we keep talking like this.’

‘You’re really frightened of her aren’t you?’

Diverting her eyes, Waverly avoided the question, ‘I’ll see you later.’ With a weakened smile she returned to Mercedes who was stood filing her nails to perfection. Wynonna watched as they disappeared down the hall, clearly deep in conversation about her. Shaking her head, Wynonna looked through the arch and with a sigh made her way through it.

 

‘Absences, misdemeanours, bad grades, attitude and oh… my personal favourite… burning down the school gymnasium,’ the principal stated as he flicked through her file.

‘In my defence that gymnasium was filled with va…’ she stopped herself quickly. ‘Very bad people.’

He raised an eyebrow questioningly, ‘bad people?’

‘Yes,’ Wynonna nodded regretting her slip and her pathetic attempt to cover it. ‘Very bad.’

Wynonna watched as his attention turned back to the paper in his hand, but then he did something very surprising. He bunched it all together, turned it landscape in his hands then proceeded to tear it up. Wynonna’s eyes widened in shock. ‘I don’t care about old records,’ he declared dropping the pieces in the bin beside his desk. ‘Purgatory High offers a new start and so I shall give you one.’ Warming to the tubby, balding man dressed in dark green tweed Wynonna let a smile appear on her face. ‘You just keep yourself clean of any of this nonsense and you will have no problems here.’ He pointed his finger at her gently. ‘Keep your grades up, your attitude in check, don’t let your attendance slip and you’ll be fine. I also advise you join a club, the cheerleading one is always popular… good one to fit in.’ Wynonna visibly recoiled in her chair. ‘Okay, how about being in the band?’

‘Oh come on principal, that’s worse,’ Wynonna scoffed.

‘Well I suggest you join something…’ he smiled undeterred by her reaction to his ideas. ‘It’ll help you settled more quickly into school society.’

What Wynonna wanted to say was that she didn’t fit into any society, not with her burden. However, she held back and checked her timetable, ‘I guess the first thing I need is books?’

The principal brightened at this immediately, ‘that’s the attitude my girl,’ he grinned slamming his hands down on her the table. ‘Turn right out of this office and follow the hall to the end. You can’t miss it.’

Wynonna nodded to his instructions and pushed herself out of the chair, ‘thank you.’

As her hand fell on the door handle, the principal called her attention back, ‘and Wynonna…’

‘Yes?’

‘Please don’t burn down my gymnasium.’

 

Shaking her head amused at the principal’s last statement, Wynonna looked up at the bold lettering of library over two dark brown double doors. There were two large windows in the tops of them allowing her peer through and see that she was indeed in the right place. As she pushed her way through them, she realised that she was the only person in the right place. The place was completely deserted and deathly quiet. Holding her bag nervously on her shoulder she walked forward slowly looking around.

‘Hello?’ she called out timidly. There was no reply as she continued to walk forward. All the tables where students should have been studying were empty and it appeared that no books were missing from the shelves. Wynonna noted the strangeness of this. ‘Anyone here? I need some books…’ she cringed at her choice of words. ‘Well clearly…’ she mumbled to herself.

‘Hello young lady.’ Once again, Wynonna almost jumped out of her skin as a man appeared from behind the desk where he had been bending down.

‘Jesus Christ!’ Wynonna gasped. ‘Why does everyone in this place want to scare me?’

The man looked a little confused, ‘sorry… that was not my intention.’ His British accent was clear and fitted a little too well with his light green tweed suit, brown suit waistcoat, white shirt and dark blue tie. His dirty blonde hair was slicked back and his neat moustache twitched on his lip. ‘I’m Nedley the school librarian.’

Wynonna shook f her surprise from his sudden appearance and allowed herself to move forward towards him, ‘I’m Wynonna,’ she stated. ‘I’m here for…’

Nedley’s face suddenly changed from friendly to deadly serious, ‘yes… I know what you’re here for…’ he interrupted. He disappeared from sight for a moment before reappearing with an enormous book which he slammed down on the table causing a great crash to ring through the library.

Wynonna stared down at it and moved backwards at the words displayed on its front, Vampyr, ‘no…’ she exhaled horrified. ‘That’s not what I’m…’ she tried to regather the air in her lungs. ‘No… that’s definitely not what I’m here for…’ without looking at Nedley again, she turned and ran out of the library.

Nedley watched her go stunned, ‘sorry… my mistake,’ he said softly into the air before taking the book back off the desk surface and replacing it from where it came from.

 

Walking quickly, but with control so not to attract any unwanted attention, with her heart pounding in her chest Wynonna made her way out of school. Turning a corner she found she was not where she wanted to be again. Desperate to see the doors which would allow her to escape she looked around a little frantically until her eyes fell upon a sight that surprised her. Standing a little way into one of the classrooms, Waverly stood talking to Jeremy. She half expected her to be delivering some harsh line, but instead they were laughing, genuinely sharing a joke between them. He was completely relaxed but Wynonna could see by Waverly’s nervous glances that she was aware their conversation could not be seen by anyone. Wynonna wished she could linger on this for a moment, but the recollection of the experience she had just had in the library caused her to continue her search for any way to get out of school.

 

‘Wynonna! The last boxes in the trailer are yours!’ Alice shouted up the stairs. ‘I would move them but they have do not touch written all over them. I figured you would appreciate it if I obeyed your wishes.’ In her bedroom, Wyonna rolled her eyes at her mother’s attempt at a sense of humour. ‘Can you move them now please as I want to put the trailer in the barn.’ Groaning, Wynonna dropped the book she had been reading on the bed and threw herself off her bed.

At the trailer, there were indeed just two boxes left inside it that she had covered in tape and written her wishes that they not be touched all over their surface. Taking a deep breath, she peeled back some of the tape so she could open one slightly to gaze upon the objects that lay inside. As the hint of sharpened wood came into focus she snapped the box’s lid shut but did not re-seal the tape. Bracing herself, she pulled the box into her arms and turned to make her way towards the house only to come face to face with Waverly. Startled, the box fell from her hands spilling some of its contents onto the muddy floor. Mortified, Wynonna began to gather them in quickly, grabbing stakes, bottles of holy water and crosses, stuffing them back into the box. However it was too late. Waverly had already bent down to help and held one of the wooden stakes in her hand. Wynonna rose slowly, only imagining what Waverly could be thinking.

‘The only thing I can think of is that you’re building a very small fence…’ Waverly said as her eyes studied the strange object she held in her hand.

‘Would you believe that?’ Wynonna asked taking it from her.

‘Not really, considering the fact these houses are surrounded by perfectly good fences.’ Waverly pointed out.

‘Right,’ Wynonna nodded. ‘Well… I guess you better know that I’m a vampire…’ a saving idea flashed into her mind. ‘… groupie… yeah… I just love those vampires. Completely obsessed.’

Waverly studied her unconvinced, ‘don’t crosses, holy water and stakes hurt them?’ she asked. Wynonna’s eyes widened at Waverly’s surprising knowledge. ‘At least… that’s what happens in the movies.’

Wynonna released the breath she didn’t know she was holding, ‘it depends on the vampire… some find it… very… kinky,’ once again she flinched at what she was saying, but it was necessary.

‘Kinky?’ Waverly repeated not sure what to do with the information.

Inside, Wynonna was dying, ‘yes… kinky…’ there was an awkward pause between them as they both processed the words. They were as new to Wynonna as they were to Waverly. ‘Please don’t tell anyone about this.’

‘No, no, trust me, I don’t want to tell anyone… about… this,’ she gestured to the box.

‘Thank you,’ Wynonna breathed out as she swept the box up into her arms and ran as fast as she could back to the house. Once she had gone, Waverly spotted the remaining box sitting in the open trailer. With curiosity getting the better of her she walked forward and began to peel the tape back from the cardboard. Once she had she was able to hook her finger under one of the flaps and begin to lift it, only for it to slapped back down quickly. ‘Trust me… if you thought the first box was bad, you don’t want to see in that one.’ Wynonna stated before she took it up in her arms and once again disappeared back into the house.

Waverly stared after her astounded, ‘Mercedes was right, we have one strange arrival in town.’

 

As darkness fell over the town, Wynonna sat on one end of her bed staring at the box on the other. Her knees pulled up to her face she rocked a little conflicted by the thoughts circulating in her head. She glanced out of the window into the night sky knowing full well what would be stalking the night. Yet, everything that should have been compelling her to go out was being forced down by the memories of her recent and disastrous failures.

‘Nope… nope… no… not going,’ she said herself as her eyes returned to the box. ‘Not doing it, I’m not doing it.’

Suddenly the silence of the night air was broken with a scream that came from a long way in the distance. However, Wynonna was able to hear a lot further and clearer then a normal human. She let go of her knees and looked up at her bedroom ceiling appalled. She couldn’t pretend she hadn’t heard it; her sense of duty was overwhelming her.

‘Oh for the love of… damn it!’ she cried whilst also keeping her voice down. Grabbing her leather jacket from the chair next to her bed she threw it on before fumbling in the box to locate a stake and cross. Her boots already on, she crossed the room and opened the window to carefully clamber out. She made her way to the edge of the roof then made the long drop to the ground easily before tearing off into the distance quicker than any human could run. Not far from her house, this had not gone unnoticed by a pair of dumbfounded eyes. That drop should have broken the legs of a normal person.

 

Another scream rang out amongst the hills as Wynonna flew over the ground one of the fields surrounding the houses. Soon, they were a long way behind as she reached the fence on the other side and jumped over it with ease. She could sense she was near and indeed she was. As she climbed the slope of the next field just over its peak she saw where two teenagers should have been enjoying a romantic moment under the stars. Instead, one sat terrified huddled against the tree their blanket was under whilst the other hung limp in the arms of something which was not human.

‘Run!’ Wynonna ordered the boy cowering under the tree. He wasn’t going to argue and scrambled to his feet disappearing down the hill. This allowed Wynonna to return her attention to the man continuing to gulp at the young girl’s throat. She was still alive as she gasped in his arms. ‘Hey… ‘ Wynonna called. The man looked up immediately furious at being disturbed. ‘That’s not nice.’

As he turned, he dropped the girl on the ground and Wynonna saw what she expected to see, a deformed forehead and two sharp teeth sticking down from his top jaw dripping with blood. ‘Who are you to speak to me like that?’

Wynonna smirked; she didn’t need to hide herself here. ‘I’m Wynonna, I put pieces of crap like you in ground…’ she twirled the stake in her hand masterfully. ‘It’s been a while, but I’m sure I’ll remember.’ With an almost excited smile she launched herself forward driving a strong foot into his chest. He staggered backwards trying to retain his balanced but this failed him as his back hit the ground. Using the time, Wynonna checked on the girl. She was unconscious but breathing. She turned back to the vampire just in time as he came at her. Adjusting quickly; she was able to absorb his attack crossing her hands in front of her face trapping his arm. She used this to spin him and send him crashing to the ground once again. He groaned as his back hit the dirt. ‘Nope, really haven’t lost it.’ Wynonna grinned bringing the stake down at his chest, but he was too quick.

He caught her arms and held them away from his chest, ‘you might want to think again… slayer.’ Bringing his legs round they collided with the backs of Wynonna’s. She buckled and fell to the floor. Pain then shot through her body as he drove a powerful kick into her ribs. Coughing, she tried to reach for her stake but the vampire laughed nastily as he kicked it away. Fear began to grip Wynonna as he loomed over her. She felt completely crippled, utterly out of practise. She looked up at him through bleary eyes terrified, but then saw something behind him which caused her to smile. ‘Can’t understand why you’re smiling slayer, not when I’m about to kill you,’ she took hold of the collar of her jacket and pulled her up so he could reach her neck.

Wynonna kept the smile on her face, ‘because I’m not the one who is about to get dead,’ she whispered. Using her elbow, she drove it up into his throat causing him to splutter and stumble backwards. Spinning round, she caught the stake being thrown to her and instantly rammed it into his chest before he could get his balance. A look of horror came over his face as he realised his fate. In a matter of seconds he had exploded into nothing but a pile of dust on the floor.

As soon as he was gone, Wynonna fell to her knees holding her side in agony. It wasn’t long before kind hands were helping her up as Waverly knelt down beside her. She looked up into the astonished eyes that greeted her, ‘thanks…’ she said wincing.

Next to them, the boyfriend who Wynonna had told to run returned to his girlfriend’s side. With a look of terror still remaining on his face, he bent down and lifted her up into his arms. He nodded his thank you still unable to speak and staggered back down the hill and out of sight. Wynonna and the girl who had come to her rescue watched him go before Wynonna felt inquiring eyes upon her once again.

‘Who the hell are you?’ Waverly asked looking down at the stake lying on the ground in front of them.

Wynonna shook her head, ‘I guess you won’t believe me if I said that was the kinkiest part of my vampire obsession.’

‘Was that a…’ Waverly asked pointing at the place where he had just stood.

Wynonna nodded as she finished pulling herself to her feet collecting her stake as she did so, ‘yes, that was a vampire.’

‘And he went poof because you… staked him?’ her actions mimed the same meaning as her words.

This caused Wynonna to chuckled a little, though it was cut short as it caused her wounded side to sting horrendously, ‘that’s generally what happens to them when I do that yes…’

‘And, you do that a lot?’ Waverly asked still trying to fathom everything she was learning.

‘It’s what us slayers do… well, me, one slayer. It’s what I do…’ she turned and began walking away down the hill, limping a little to ease the throbbing in her side.

‘Slayers?’ Waverly called after her. The more Wynonna said, the more questions formed in her mind. Wynonna was already half way down the hill leaving Waverly calling out into the air after her. She took a moment to look down at the pile of dust that had once been a man, or monster, right there in front of her eyes. She’d known about the strangeness in town for years, but to see something so completely ridiculous and unbelievable was still causing her thoughts to scramble. She figured she’d fallen asleep, but as she pinched herself and did not wake, she knew instantly that she had suddenly become aware that there was a whole other world to Purgatory that she and so many others had no idea about.

As she stood at the top of the hill the breeze rustling her long hair she suddenly sensed that she was not alone. Looking around her eyes fell upon the blanket that had been left and just briefly she swore she saw a shadow move underneath the branches. Frozen to the spot, she blinked and looked again but saw no more movement. Believing it to be a trick of the dark and her sudden heightened condition, Waverly moved to follow Wynonna down the hill but before she could scream, her mouth was covered in a powerful hand and she was dragged away into the night.


	2. Welcome to Purgatory Part 2

Waverly’s body hit the floor hard as the powerful woman threw her into the cavernous room. She contorted at the pain that shot up her arm and side. The woman seemed to laugh and relish this as she stepped over Waverly towards a man standing on the other side of the room. As Waverly looked up and followed her graceful movement, she realised that she was underground as a craggy rock ceiling stretched from wall to wall and water dripped from the ceiling. The dim light provided was from candles scattered in stands around the walls particularly where the intimidating pair stood staring at her. Their hands entwined, there was evil in their eyes.

‘So what tasty thing have you brought me my sweet?’ the man asked his voice husky and deep. His huge fur coat almost hid his face from sight but just above it she could make out a grey and black beard matched with a striking black Mohican stretching the length of his head.

‘She was with the slayer,’ the woman replied, her voice wispy and a little weak.

The man looked at the woman with instant interest, ‘the slayer? She’s here?’

‘Seems so my love,’ she traced a finger through his beard. He closed his eyes to the touch. ‘She’s come to our town, just as we near the climax of our plans… quite unfortunate. So I thought we should kill her and get her out of our way.’

The man’s eyes popped open as he snarled a smile, ‘oh my wonderful Willa,’ he cooed squeezing her face affectionately. ‘I just love how your twisted mind works.’

‘I thought,’ she said slowly before laughing evilly. It sent a chill down Waverly’s spine. ‘We could use this one as bait… What do you think Bobo my love?’

‘I think…’ he bit into the air just in front of her face. She laughed manically at this. ‘I forget how lucky I am to have someone as depraved as you.’ He grabbed her head violently and crashed their lips together. Unable to look away, Waverly watched in dismay as Willa’s face morphed into that of a vampire’s and Bobo’s eyes glowed red. She tried to ignore what she was watching or where she was as paralysing fear gripped her, hoping that Wynonna would realise quickly that she was missing.

 

Clutching her side, Wynonna pushed the library door open and peered inside. Seeing it was empty she entered and looked around carefully. Although she did heal more quickly than a normal person, the pain in her side was still very present and another surprise causing her to jump would not be welcome. A cough coming from a small room behind the main desk allowed Wynonna, this time, to be aware of Nedley’s presence first. Quietly, she walked to the office’s door and saw him sitting at his desk deeply absorbed in a book. Using the arm that was not holding her side, she reached up and knocked gently on the door.

Nedley look round a little surprised to see who was standing in his doorway, ‘Wynonna…’ his eyes then fell on her obvious injury. ‘Are you alright?’ He rose from his chair concerned.

‘I got acquainted with some of the less savoury folk in this town last night,’ she said with a pained laugh. ‘He dusted my hopes of a quieter life than LA, so I dusted him. I’m a little out of practise though.’

‘Yes…’ he removed his glasses a little amused. ‘You fell out of our reach after LA.’

She looked up at him seriously, ‘can you blame me?’

He bowed his head, ‘no, I guess not.’

Sadness filled the air around them, ‘I will always blame myself,’ Wynonna said.

‘You shouldn’t.’ Nedley corrected her. ‘The man should have never been there. You had the situation under control…’

‘I burnt down the gymnasium,’ Wynonna stated plainly.

‘Which was filled with vampires… and they all died I do believe, so okay that’s not exactly the most discrete way we like to take care of things, but still you knew what you were doing.’

‘He thought I was inside,’ Wynonna went on.

‘He should have known Wynonna, that even if you had been, there was no way he was going to get you out.’ He avoided her eye contact for a moment. ‘It’s a watcher’s rule, we stay out of it.’

‘Crappy selfish rule,’ Wynonna muttered.

‘But you can see why it’s there. We watchers are human. He was not equipped to fight all of the vampires inside that gymnasium. He let his feelings get the better of him.’ He sighed and cleaned his glasses. ‘He clearly cared for you, and it got him killed. It wasn’t your fault.’

Wynonna smiled despondently, ‘I might need to hear you say that a few more times before I believe it.’

Nedley’s face brightened, ‘does that mean you’re willing to train again?’

Wynonna laughed at his obvious excitement, ‘clearly there are things here that go bump in the night so, I don’t have a choice,’ she shrugged. ‘I’m just so out of shape.’

‘Well… we can sort that out straight away,’ he pushed past her and entered a cage like cupboard on the other side of the room where he opened up a cupboard filled with an impressive array of weapons. He took out an axe, a sword and crossbow. ‘We can get straight to your combat and weapon training.’

‘Woah, slow down there Neddles,’ Wynonna said hastily.

‘Nedley,’

‘Sorry, Nedley, though I think Neddles makes a great nickname, I might use that,’ she smiled entertained.

‘Please don’t.’

‘Nope, sorry that one’s sticking,’ she chuckled despite his irritated frown. ‘We need to take this slow. I don’t know how ready I am for this… after…’

Nedley put the weapons back into the cupboard and closed it carefully, ‘we can start slow. How about some low combat training tonight. Just to get you on your feet again.’

Wynonna gazed at him for a moment studying his character, she could sense kindness in his eyes but also a firm sense of duty; one that had been awakened upon her reappearance in the library. ‘If my side has finished stinging like a bitch then I’ll be here.’

‘I’ll see you tonight then,’ keeping himself reserved he nodded to her almost professionally before returning his glasses to their place and taking his seat once again in his office. Wynonna watched him for a few moments before hearing the bustle of the rest of the school reminding her that she did have classes to go to.

 

Sitting in the corner of the dank dark room, Waverly watched as Willa brushed her hair in front of mirror which bore no reflection. Yet, the vampire seemed to think that she could see one and was smiling and cooing at it as though admiring herself. As Waverly continued to watch, she began to realise that Willa was vampire whose mind was clearly very troubled.

‘Yes my dear, your clever self will bring the slayer here… and then… we’ll eat her,’ she giggled, in the way a child would as she ran her hands through her silky dark brown hair. ‘Yes, we’ll eat her. Eat the slayer. Eat her up.’ Finally, after many minutes going over and over her hair she placed the brush down and stared at Waverly who felt her stomach lurch with fear. ‘And you’re going to help.’

Waverly gulped and tried to remember to breathe, ‘me?’

‘Oh yes, you’re key to this,’ she rose from the chair and moved through the room like a lady would do many centuries ago. Her clothes very nearly resembled those of the Victorian era. Her black full length dress adorned with lace falling slightly off the shoulders. With delicate movements, Willa opened up a draw on the other side of the bed from Waverly and picked up a piece of paper and pencil. ‘You are going to lure her here.’ She beamed as she straightened.

Intensely, Waverly watched her every movement as Willa moved around the bed, walking as though she was a lady of high esteem, ‘I won’t…’ Waverly said daringly.

Willa was unmoved by the remark, ‘oh I think you will my dear…’ Now standing in front of Waverly, she bent down and gripped Waverly’s chin fiercely. Waverly winced at the hold feeling the power in Willa’s hand. Willa could crush her jaw easily with the power running through her veins. ‘… or we will kill you and that guardian of yours…’ Waverly’s eyes widened horrified. ‘Oh yes, we will kill her right in front of your eyes… and it’ll be so pretty and so yummy and so completely horrible for you.’

‘Please…’ Waverly whispered awkwardly due to Willa’s hand contorting her mouth. ‘Don’t hurt Gus.’

‘Then you know what you have to do…’ she let go of Waverly’s face and held the paper and pencil in front of her face. ‘Now… You write down everything I tell you to…’

 

The pain in her side subsiding, Wynonna was able to walk more upright as she made her way to English class. As she did so, she could see Mercedes and her group standing by their lockers watching her closely. Their faces were not dismissive, but they were not exactly friendly either. As Wynonna gave them a sideways glance, she was surprised to see that Waverly was missing within their little gathering. She held this thought in her head as she made her way into the classroom. She passed Jeremy who sat at the front on his own and took a seat at an empty desk in the middle of the room. Slowly, the other pupils filtered into the classroom until only one desk remained empty.

‘Good morning class,’ came the cheery voice of a middle aged woman as she bustled in her arms laden with books. She plonked them onto the desk at the front then proceeded to clean the board of the notes from the previous class. With a small piece of chalk, she wrote The Tempest on the board then turned back to the waiting teenagers who instantly disguised their disappointed looks. It always seemed to be Shakespeare. ‘So did any of you read the first act over the summer?’ There were some awkward glances between the children. ‘Thought not… well, we better get started then.’ She collected the books in her arms and began to hand them out so that everyone had a copy each. Then she stopped when she came across the empty desk. ‘Are we missing someone?’

No one seemed to answer her question at first, then at the front Jeremy turned in his chair, ‘Waverly Gibson.’ Everyone’s eyes shot his way. His voice was timid and nervous but he felt the need to speak. ‘I’ve not seen her today.’

The teacher turned his way, ‘as in not in the class or…?’

‘I’ve not seen her in school today,’ he replied.

‘And why would you be aware of her presence,’ came the cruel voice from a girl at the back. Looking back at her, Wynonna could see, just by her appearance, that she was one of the pupils that made up Mercedes’ group.

‘Abby, that was uncalled for,’ snapped the teacher Abby’s way. The girl shot the teacher an unimpressed look before falling silent. ‘Well if Waverly is sick, can someone make sure she gets her copy of The Tempest?’

It took a few moments for Wynonna to register the question as she had been studying Abby as she seemed completely unfeeling to the absence of her friend, ‘I can…’ Wynonna spoke up turning her attention to the teacher. ‘I live really near her so…’

Wynonna could not finish her sentence as sudden crash split the air. Glass from the window scattered amongst the pupils as the rock that had broken through it whistled just past a boy’s head who was sitting near. Amongst the screams from the startled class came the thud of the rock landing on the classroom floor before it skidded to a halt near Wynonna’s chair. Whilst most of the pupils gasped at the frightening event and brushed glass off their clothes, Wynonna bent down and picked up the rock seeing there was a note tied to it.

‘It’s okay class, it’s okay… is anyone hurt?’ came the faded voice of the teacher in the background.

Too focused on the rock in her hands, Wynonna could barely hear the sounds around her. She pulled the string tying the note to the rock loose so that the note could fall free. She read it and her eyes opened wide with horror as her eyes cast over the last word. Quickly, she gathered up her things and ran out of the room taking the note with her leaving the unsettled class behind her.

 

With one hand, Wynonna slammed the note down onto the librarian’s desk in front of Nedley. A little surprised at her entrance, Nedley coughed and picked up the note.

‘Where oh where could the slayer be? Not with her friend called Waverly. Trapped beneath the earth with us she sits. To prevent her death, to us you must visit,’ he read out. Once finished his face displayed a similar expression to the one Wynonna had worn in the classroom.

‘Someone has her,’ Wynonna exclaimed worry all over her face.

‘Who’s us?’ Nedley asked.

‘I have no idea!’ she turned away from the desk putting her hands to head. ‘Oh god, Nedley she could be anywhere.’

Nedley nodded realising the difficulty of their predicament as she pushed his way through the library desk door to stand with her in the main library foyer studying the note. ‘Well, we know they’re underground…’ he began. Wynonna glared at him unamused. ‘Which I know there is a lot of, especially in a town like this…’

‘A town like this?’

Nedley blinked at her surprised, ‘you don’t know?’ Wynonna shrugged reaffirming his realisation. ‘We’re on a hellmouth Wynonna.’ Again, Wynonna shrugged. ‘This place is a magnet for some of the worst demon activity in the world. Everything born of evil is drawn here. I’ve been doing some reading…’ he gave the note back to her and went to his office to collect some books which he brought back out with him. ‘I don’t think you coming here is a coincidence, I think there are some higher forces at work. Something must be about to happen.’

Wynonna studied him for a moment sceptical, ‘Look Neddles…’

‘Nedley,’ he corrected again.

‘Look Nedley, my mum and I came here because I burnt down the library in my last school, we kinda didn’t have a choice but to skip town…’ she said.

He was unmoved, ‘but why here?’ he asked a little triumphantly.

‘Mum wanted something different?’ she was now searching for an answer.

Nedley smiled his point proven, ‘something brought you here and maybe this note is one of the reasons why,’ he went on gesturing to it.

Wynonna’s thought returned to Waverly, ‘okay, so if I’m here for a reason, tell me where I can find her.’

Nedley’s eyes began to widen as a thought crept into his head, ‘oh… oh…’ he went over to the one of the tables so he could drop the books onto them. He pushed them aside until he came across the only black one in the collection. Ensuring his glasses were safely on his nose he rifled through the pages until he stopped when he found what he was looking for. ‘The vampire who writes in riddles.’ He straightened and began to read through the page. ‘Yes… the vampire who loves to kidnap and write ransom notes in poetry or riddles.’ He held up the book so Wynonna could see a clear drawing of Willa and her name written underneath.

‘Okay, so we know who has Waverly, but where is she?’ her questions were now more urgent with the knowledge that Waverly was being held by something that could kill her in seconds.

Nedley held up his finger to request more time to read. He cast his eyes hastily over the words as they scanned down the page. It was clear that he had found what he was looking for, but instead of a look of relief it was a look of terror. ‘Oh my…’

‘What Neddles, what is it?’

He was so horrified at what he read he ignored her mistake, ‘she’s with him…’ he breathed out.

‘Him?’

‘You can’t go…’ Nedley said shutting the book.

Wynonna stared at him stunned, ‘I can’t go? Are you kidding me?’

‘It’s too dangerous,’ he stated.

‘Am I hearing this right?’ she cried at the inexplicable decision. ‘Waverly is an innocent person being held by a vampire and you don’t want me to rescue her? Isn’t that my job? Isn’t it your job to tell me that’s my job!?’

‘You are the slayer,’ Nedley snapped. ‘You are more important. And until I have studied this further and maybe worked out a way to defeat them, you cannot go.’

‘Waverly may not have that long,’ Wynonna argued.

‘Just…’ Nedley argued back getting more enraged. He took a breath and calmed himself. ‘Just, please… listen to me. You cannot fight them and win. Now, I think you need to return to class. We need to give the impression that everything is okay.’ Wynonna was completely lost for words as she stood staring at him. He broke their eye contact and returned to his office clutching the black book in his hand. With a furious glare she gave him the idea that she had stormed out of the library but once out of the doors, she turned back and carefully pushed the doors open so they didn’t make a sound. Creeping, she made her way around the main desk so that she was hoovering out of sight near Nedley’s office. Through the window she was able to witness him placing the black book in the top draw of his desk and he did not lock it. Pleased with herself, Wynonna smiled victoriously and made her way out of the library once more.

 

‘Why isn’t she here?’ Willa cried painfully into the air.

Behind her, Bobo sat in his chair surrounded by candles holding his hand to his head, ‘give her time my sweet… she will be here.’

Willa turned back to him with a mournful expression, ‘I’m bored… I want her here now.’

‘My love…’ it was clear he was losing his patience. ‘You didn’t exactly tell here where we were in the note did you?’ Willa’s face fell at the realisation he was right. ‘You’ve got to give her time to work that out.’

Withdrawing, Willa realised her mistake, ‘well… she’s a slayer…’ she said swanning over to Bobo. ‘She should be clever enough to work it out.’ She took a seat on Bobo’s lap and began to play with his fur coat. ‘If she doesn’t soon… it’ll only be a body she finds.’ With a wicked look her eyes fell on Waverly tied up across the cave, rope binding her hands a gag around her face. ‘She looks so tasty.’

Bobo watched as Willa ran her tongue across her lips, ‘now now…’ he chuckled. ‘We need her. No good killing the hostage yet.’ Willa’s face turned into that of a sulking child. ‘But, if the slayer doesn’t come for her by daybreak tomorrow, we shall have a feast.’ Willa laughed hysterically kissing Bobo passionately before they both stared at Waverly who sat petrified staring back at them.

 

Darkness having fallen over the school, Wynonna crept through the shadowy halls towards the library. She had checked the car park for Nedley’s car but had found his space empty. Peering carefully around a corner she saw that another of the corridors was clear and began to make her way down it until a presence stopped her in her tracks. She stopped and allowed herself to gauge the feeling taking over her body. Then slowly, she turned to see the silhouette of a tall female figure dressed in a long coat standing with her face hidden by shadow a little way down the corridor.

‘You know it’s rude to sneak up on people,’ Wynonna retorted.

There was no laughter from the figure standing before her, ‘he can’t move wood.’

‘Excuse me?’ Wynonna almost laughed.

‘Bobo,’ the voice was soft but still with an air of authority. ‘He can’t move wood. You can use this to defeat him.’

Wynonna realised that this figure, whoever she was, was aware of Wynonna was planning to do, ‘how do you…?’ she began suddenly feeling very on edge.

‘Just save Waverly,’ the woman told her with a little urgency in her voice.

‘Waverly?’ Wynonna asked confused. ‘Do you know her?’

‘She’s human and an innocent,’ the woman went on sternly.

‘Do you know where I can find her?’

‘You’ll find them under the Monument of Revenants,’ came the reply.

A noise down the hall distracted Wynonna, she glanced back to see if she and the mysterious woman were not the only the ones in the hall. Seeing that it was probably a noise from the roof she turned back to where the woman had been standing, ‘who are you and how do you…?’ when her eyes came upon the spot she saw that the woman was gone. Wynonna looked around, but there was no sign of her, she had vanished. ‘Okay… thank you creepy lady… I can totally see why Waverly said this place was weird.’

She continued her journey to the library and once inside made her way straight to Nedley’s office and opened the top drawer of his desk. There lying within it was the book. She opened it and looked through the pages until she found the one that Nedley had been reading. There she found the biography all about the Vampire of Riddles, Willa. She was striking woman with piercing eyes, obvious even in the drawing. As she continued to read, she saw what had frightened Nedley. She no longer acted alone, she was involved with Bobo Del Ray, a demon with telekinetic powers.

‘Oh crap.’

 

Despite what she had read, Wynonna made her way through the grave yard holding the map she had located in one of the books. Unable to remember its complex lay outs, she had ripped it out of the book willing to risk the furious onslaught she would inevitably get from Nedley. All around her, strange sounds of the night filtered through the mist that settled among the gravestones, but still she walked on with only one pursuit in mind.

‘Right… according to this… it should be right…. here…’ she examined the map before looking up and seeing that standing in front of her was indeed large monument. A hexagonal stone column stretched up in front of her with a striking statue on top. Rising from the column were many flames with a man seemingly trying to prevent himself from being sucked down into them carved into the centre. His eyes had been carved hollow with a mark on the side of his head. The look of terror on his face seemed to stare right at Wynonna as she looked up at him. ‘Well that’s not disturbing at all…’ she swallowed.

Walking forward, Wynonna looked at the plans that were draw alongside the map. They appeared to show a door in one of the sides of the statue. She walked round until she came across it. To her annoyance the metal door had been bolted together with a chain. Wynonna rolled her eyes before she took the chain in both hands. With a grimace and groan, she used all of her powers to snap the chain. It wasn’t easy but eventually with a shatter the links fell apart at her feet.

Cautiously, Wynonna pulled the door towards her and looked inside into the darkness that greeted her. Luckily, she had come prepared and pulled a small torch from her pocket. On first inspection it was empty so that continued inside. The interior was as bleak as the outside as Wynonna’s torch beam lit up carvings on the inside walls, all showing the same picture as that on top. Countless pictures of people or demons being dragged down to hell littered the walls. Wynonna allowed her torch to follow most of them before she realised that to one side there were some stone steps leading down. She shone the torch down to see that as the steps lead down the walls turned from being smooth stone to more cavernous in nature.

‘Guess I’m going down there,’ sighed Wynonna. She folded the map up and placed it safely in her pocket before taking out a stake and holding it tightly whilst the torch remained in the other.

As she descended, it wasn’t long before she saw the flicker of candle light beyond the window tunnel. She could also hear the muttering of voices of a man and woman as they spoke to each other romantically. Their laughter echoed off the walls right into Wynonna’s ears and she prepared herself for what she might come across once she came to the end of the tunnel. To be cautious, once she saw it’s opening she pressed her back against the wall and switched off her torch so that she could cast her eyes over what lay before her. She saw Bobo sitting in the chair with Willa still on his lap as they indulged in a conversation of sweet nothings. Then following the vast cave round, she saw Waverly still chained and gagged in one corner. When her eyes found the frightened girl, Waverly’s eyes found hers. Relief flooded into Waverly’s eyes as Wynonna put a finger to her own lips to ensure Waverly remained quiet and did not alert Bobo and Willa to her presence. Waverly nodded, but was clearly still terrified.

Slipping out of the cave’s entrance, Wynonna kept her back pressed up against the cave wall to see if she could sneak around its edge to reach Waverly before the vampire and demon realised she was there. However, she’d barely made three steps before both Willa and Bobo’s heads turned and they were looking straight at her.

‘Oh how fun…’ Willa giggled. ‘The slayer is here.’

 

Wynonna stopped dead her back still pushed up against the wall as she stared at the two figures studying her. She glanced sideways at Waverly, who was looking between the three of them clearly wondering how the situation could lead her to being rescued.

‘She is a clever girl,’ Bobo smiled rising from his chair helping Willa to find her feet at the same time.

‘Well… that is one of the nicest things I’ve heard about myself,’ Wynonna quipped.

‘Come a little closer slayer, we want to have a good look at you,’ Willa said beckoning.

‘Nah… I’m alright here thanks,’ Wynonna replied.

However, her wishes were not to be respected as Bobo raised his hand. As he did so, Wynonna saw the silver cross necklace around her neck rise up and hover in front of her face. He then used this to pull Wynonna forward, forcing her off the wall as it cut into the back of her neck. She stumbled over the rock and around candle frames as Bobo continued to pull her towards him. She was only able to stop when she was standing only a few meters in front of them.

‘Oh yeah… the telekinetic thing,’ she reminded herself.

‘She’s pretty,’ Willa said to Bobo as she moved towards him.

‘She is indeed,’ he agreed with the same hungry expression on his face. He wrapped an arm around Willa as she reached him. They stared at her as though they were examining something they were going to eat.

‘You sure you people are evil as you’re saying some rather lovely things?’ Wynonna asked. She glanced over her shoulder at Waverly to reassure the girl that she was not forgotten about.

‘We’re going to very much enjoy killing you,’ Bobo growled breaking away from Willa. ‘To kill a slayer… what an experience that must be. You’re the first slayer I’ve ever met. They really do make them young.’ He began to circle her. ‘How old are you? Sixteen? Seventeen? It’s so cruel.’

‘Okay, you and I need to become friends.’ Using the line to cover her intentions, she whipped a knife out of her pocket and launched at him.

This was met with delighted laughter as he raised his hand once again and stopped the knife in its tracks. Her arm stuck in the air she tried desperately to fight against the invisible force which didn’t allow her to move an inch. She realised how stupid she was trying to attack him with a metal knife, the one material he had the most control of.

‘I take it back Bobo,’ Willa said. ‘She’s not that bright at all.’

Agreeing, Bobo cast his arm back and sent Wynonna flying across the cave with his control over the knife. She hit the wall hard and landed in a heap on the floor. Groaning she forced herself up, only to see that Bobo was sending objects flying at her. An iron candlestick struck her across the face forcing her to the floor once again. Blood began to escape from the wound by her eye as another collided with her back. She coughed in pain as the tirade continued until Bobo became bored. Due to the pain caused by the candlesticks, Wynonna had not been able let go of the knife. Seeing this, Bobo gained control of it and sent Wynonna flying across the cave once again. This time she landed near Waverly who looked down at her mortified at what she was witnessing. Blood dripped down Wynonna’s face as she pulled herself up to sitting.

‘I think we’ve found our new play thing.’ Bobo beamed.

Dealing with the pain coursing through her body, Wynonna looked up in Waverly’s eyes. She could see how frightened Waverly was and felt helpless, until she remembered the mysterious woman’s words.

_He can’t move wood._

She looked down at the knife and then felt the stake in one of her pockets. Her eyes then found their way back to Waverly. ‘Hang in there okay,’ Wynonna whispered to her subtly sliding her the knife whilst ripping the silver cross necklace from around her neck. ‘He can’t move wood Waverly.’ As Waverly cut through the binds behind her back her eyes instantly fell on the wooden chair on which both Bobo and Willa had been sitting. Wynonna followed her eye line and smirked impressed. ‘I like your thinking.’

Having given Wynonna long enough to recover or contemplate her death - Bobo hoped - he raised his hand and tried to move Wynonna again, but with no metal around her neck he was unable to. ‘Run out of tricks old man?’ Wynonna sneered as she walked forward.

‘Not quite,’ he shot back. Wynonna spun just in time to see a foot connect with her chest sending her flying across the floor towards the grand wooden chair. ‘I still have her.’ Willa stood there proudly, but this only last a few seconds before she suddenly screamed in pain. From behind her, Waverly appeared her hand covered in blood. As Willa spun round, both Bobo and Wynonna saw the knife Wynonna had passed Waverly sticking out from her back.

‘Yeah… well, I have her,’ Wynonna cried as she took the chair in her hands and swung it around so that stuck Bobo in the back. His attention drawn to his screaming lover, he had not prepared himself to such an impact. He hit the floor and tried to rise immediately but Wynonna stuck him again in the back so he fell flat on his stomach. To ensure he remained on the floor she drove her foot into his head and back causing him to cry out. She then smashed the chair onto the floor so it splintered into pieces. It had the desired effect as she was able to pick up a long piece with a jagged end. Standing over Bobo, she turned him over then thrust the stake straight through is body deep into the floor. He screamed in agony as the wood protruding from his chest held him steadfast to the floor. This was made even worse for the writing demon when Wynonna stabbed another through his stomach. Screaming, Bobo raised his hands to try and move the material ripping through his body causing it to burn excruciatingly. However it would not budge and he was forced to lie back breathing deeply as he dealt with the pain.

Her fight with him over, Wynonna returned her attention to Willa who was still trying to grab at the knife sticking out of her back. No matter how she tried to reach, her fingers only grazed the handle rendering her unable to get a firm enough grip. Seeing her lover helpless on the floor and the stake gripped in the hand of the slayer marching towards her, Willa took the only option she had left and fled from the cave pushing Waverly to the floor to get her out of the way.

Despite being a little irritated, Wynonna turned back to where Bobo groaned in pain and still trying to remove the wood from his body, ‘you might want to pick your girlfriend’s more carefully,’ Wynonna taunted as she stood over him victorious. ‘Maybe to ones that don’t run away.’ Sweat dripped from Bobo’s face and his eyes glowed red as he glared up at her. Black blood spilled from the wounds in his chest and stomach. ‘Well, now I know what doesn’t kill you… just a case of a process of trial and error to find out what does…’ she started looking around for more weapons. However a sound from the other side of the cave stopped her instantly. It was the sound of shouting voices coming in large numbers. On the floor, Bobo changed from being defeated and in agony, to smirking at the two girls standing near him. The sounds grew louder and louder until vampires began spilling into the cave. All lead by Willa. ‘Time to go Waverly!’

The entrance that would lead back the way Wynonna came was still available to them. Waverly wasn’t waiting for any other further instruction and disappeared into the tunnel with Wynonna close behind.

‘Get them boys!’ Bobo cried from the floor.

Wynonna and Waverly could hear the vampires behind them charging through the tunnels. ‘Which way Wynonna?’ Waverly screamed throwing her body down the narrow tunnel as fast as she could.

‘Just keep going!’ Wynonna kept glancing back over shoulder. She would turn and fight if she had to, but for now there was enough distance to allow them to keep running. ‘Up the stairs!’ Waverly reached the stairs and pumped her legs up them until she came to the same room Wynonna had found herself within the monument. She spun on the spot searching for the exit. Panic swept over her for a moment before her eyes lay on the door Wynonna had forced herself through. ‘That’s it… that way!’ She shoved Waverly on ensuring Waverly went first as she continued to check over her shoulder. They burst through the door into the graveyard just as the vampires began to spill out of the same steps. Wynonna was slowed slightly by her injuries, but managed to catch her breath enough to keep up with Waverly who darted in between the grave stones.

The few seconds Wynonna used to catch her breath were too many as a vampire caught up with her and dragged her to the ground. Looking over her shoulder, Waverly screamed as she saw Wynonna use an elbow to force the vampire off her back before skilfully staking him backwards as he reeled. She sprang to her feet and turned to face the vampires streaming across the graveyard towards them.

‘My god, there’s so many,’ Wynonna said to herself as fear gripped her body.

Suddenly, Wynonna was no longer alone. From her right hand side a vampire was sent flying before another was staked and exploded into dust. Looking round, Wynonna was stunned to see a red headed woman in a long black coat fighting the vampires that continued to flood the graveyard. From her figure and clothing, Wynonna realised it was the same woman from the corridor in the school.

‘Go!’ the woman screamed continuing to fight sending the vampires flying with the same force and power that Wynonna was able to. ‘Get Waverly out of here!’

Frozen for a few seconds, Wynonna continued to watch the woman fight before the words resonated. Clearly this was a woman who could handle herself as she continued to fight skilfully and did not need Wynonna’s help. Nodding, she defended herself against one more vampire staking him in the chest before tearing over the cemetery to where Waverly was still hiding.

‘Let’s go…’ she grabbed Waverly by the arm instructing her to follow.

‘Who’s that?’ Waverly asked not looking back.

‘I don’t know… but right now, I don’t care!’ Waverly was not going to argue with Wynonna as she too made her way out of the grave yard. They did not know if the red headed woman even survived, but Wynonna’s priority was Waverly’s safety as she was not equipped to fight vampires in any way. They ran until their lungs burst and they were long clear of the grave yard and its demonic inhabitants.

 

His scream shook the cave as Willa pulled the second stake from his chest. With the help of two of his vampires he struggled up to his feet as they carried him over to a replacement chair that had already been sourced. He slumped into it and winced loudly. Willa too stood awkwardly next to him. The knife might have been gone from her back but not the pain.

‘That was not any fun,’ she pouted.

‘No… my love…’ he adjusted himself to try and get comfortable. ‘It was not.’ He looked up into her eyes his returned to human showing affection for his lover. ‘But we’ll get her… oh boy will we get her and when we do, I will fill her body with metal and tear every single limb from her body!’

 

‘You could have been killed!’ his fury was made even clearer as she slammed his hand down on the desk.

‘So could she!’ Wynonna shouted back.

‘You are the slayer… I have been sent here to protect you Wynonna and I explicitly ordered you not to fight Bobo, you’ve seen what he can do,’ he said trying to calm his voice.

‘I couldn’t sacrifice an innocent human life for my own Nedley,’ Wynonna argued again. ‘Come on, are you really that unfeeling as a watcher that you would do that?’

Nedley studied her for a moment then dropped his head shaking it slowly, ‘no…’ he admitted. ‘In fact, it makes me proud that you feel this way.’ To this Wynonna’s face softened as well. ‘It makes me proud that you fought him and lived.’ A smile appeared on his face. ‘You just have to work with me, otherwise this will never work. You have to understand that I was only trying to protect you.’

It was Wynonna’s turn to nod. ‘I will train with you Nedley,’ she said but her face was stern. ‘But I will never ever sacrifice anyone, do you understand? So you can never ask me.’

‘I understand,’ Nedley sighed. He could tell already that Wynonna was going to be a fierce character to work with. ‘Now… we must begin…’

‘Ooooo,’ Wynonan grinned. ‘With weapons?’

Nedley laughed, ‘no, with books.’ Wynonna’s face fell immediately. ‘We need to find out everything we can about this Bobo Del Ray… especially how to kill him.’

‘Oh goody…’ Wynonna muttered taking a chair at the library table. ‘Research.’

‘Welcome back to being a slayer Wynonna Earp.’

 

Taking the trash out, Waverly scowled at a pain which shot through her arm. She dropped the bag and moved her top from her shoulder. A large bruise was already beginning to form from the violent treatment she received from Willa. She sighed and covered it back up again before jumping startled at Wynonna’s sudden arrival on her doorstep.

‘Jesus… don’t sneak up on people…’ Waverly breathed.

‘You’re one to talk,’ Wynonna laughed. ‘Remember how you greeted me when I first arrived.’

Waverly thought for a moment, ‘ah yes… good point.’ She walked to the trash bin and reservedly threw the bag inside remembering the injury on her shoulder.

‘You okay?’ Wynonna asked a little nervously.

Waverly smiled at the question, ‘well I was kidnapped, almost died, got thrown around by a vampire, almost died, chased through a graveyard, almost died…’ the pause caused Wynonna to worry. ‘But I’m fine, I mean I got rescued by a… slayer?’

The secret was out, at least to one person, Wynonna had to accept this, ‘yep, that’s me.’ She said holding her hands up.

‘Just what is a slayer?’ Waverly asked curiously.

‘Oh wow…’ Wynonna said with her eyes wide. ‘Now there’s a question. I’ll have to fill you in sometime. But right now, mother is waiting.’ She began to make her way to the steps down to the gravel road. ‘I probably don’t need to ask but keep this to yourself okay.’

‘Like anyone is going to believe me anyway,’ Waverly chuckled but then she saw the seriousness on Wynonna’s face. ‘Of course… your secret is safe with me.’

‘Thank you,’ Wynonna said sincerely before smiling at her new friend and making her way back up the gravel road. Waverly watched her go before turning to go back into the house but as she did so, a sudden feeling washed over her - the same one that she had experienced on top of the hill before she was taken by Willa. Glancing around her eyes fell upon another shadow hiding just behind one of the houses opposite her own. Moving forwards to the edge of her porch Waverly squinted to try and get a better look but once she had just like on top of the hill, she shadow had gone. This was beginning to puzzle Waverly. On any other day she might have hopped down off the porch to investigate but after the experience she had just had she figured that evening she would opt for the quieter option and sensibly returned to the safety of her house.


	3. Teacher's Pet

 

‘So you found out when you were sixteen?’ Waverly gasped in disbelief.

‘Yup, just turned sixteen this random dude in a tweed coat finds me sitting on the school steps in LA and tells me my destiny is calling.’ Wynonna replied.

To this, Waverly whirled round so she was standing in front of Wynonna halting their walk through the graveyard, ‘and what did you say? Because to me that sounds pretty weird.’

‘I think my exact words were… huh?’ Wynonna replied.

‘Sounds about right,’ Waverly agreed with a light chuckle. She returned to Wynonna’s side so they could continue their midnight patrol. ‘And you were a completely normal teenager before that?’

‘Completely, no powers, no strength, no kickass skills… just your normal Joe.’

Waverly’s eyes widened with excitement, ‘that must have been so cool!’

‘You’d think,’ Wynonna said a little glumly. ‘My life changed that day.’ They stopped as Wynonna leant back against the gravestone. ‘You may find this hard to believe, but I was popular, I had so many friends, I knew what fashion was and what was in and what was out… I even had a boyfriend.’ Waverly raised her eyebrows at this amused. ‘Then, that night I was taken to fight my first vampire… and then before I knew it, everything changed.’

‘What happened?’ Waverly asked gently sensing it was a delicate matter.

‘I burnt down my highschool gymnasium,’ she said bluntly.

Once again, Waverly’s eyes widened along with her mouth falling open, ‘you did what?’

‘In my defence, there were loads of vampires in it and they were trying to kill everyone at the football game,’ Wynonna cried. Waverly nodded, accepting Wynonna’s argument. ‘What sucked is that unknowingly, when I locked the doors, I locked my watcher inside.’

‘Oh god…’

‘The idiot had gone in to find me and I had no idea,’ she looked down at the floor turning the stake in her hand over and over in her palm. ‘I’ll never truly forgive myself.’

‘It sounds like it wasn’t your fault Wynonna,’ Waverly said softly.

Wynonna smiled but it wasn’t convincing, ‘I think I’ll need a good few years before I believe that and lots of distractions…’

Suddenly, Waverly’s eyes fixed on something over Wynonna’s shoulders as her eyes filled with fear, ‘well how about three angry vampires coming this way?’ she exclaimed. ‘Will that do?’

Wynonna frowned for a moment then saw where Waverly’s eyes were looking. She spun round to see the three vampires practically on top of her. ‘Waverly… go!’ she ordered as she brandished her stake ready for the fight.

‘Don’t you need my help?’ Waverly called as Wynonna took on the first punching him clean in the face and flipping him over a gravestone. He landed hard and let out an enraged growl.

‘No, I need you to get to safety!’ Wynonna cried as she took on the next. She ducked his clumsy swing and was able to dust him easily but the third looked more cautious. With only two left to fight, Waverly told herself that Wynonna had the situation under control before she tried to run to find somewhere to hide. However, she simply could not leave her friend. Looking around, she searched the floor for a weapon. Lying near one of the newly dug graves, she saw a spade. Pleased with her find, she took in both hands and returned to where Wynonna battled the two left.

The third was a skilled fighter and he was able to defend himself again Wynonna’s advances. Soon he had hold of her foot as she tried to kick him and using his grip flipped her over so she landed on the ground. It was her turn to groan as he stood over her. The vampire couldn’t enjoy his victory for long as a loud crack sounded in the air. Moaning at the pain he turned to see Waverly standing behind him. The swing of the spade had not had the effect she had wished. He turned and began to advance on her. Seeing this, Wynonna flipped herself up onto her feet, only to be pulled back the other vampire who had recovered from her latest onslaught. With his arm around her throat he dragged her away from where the other vampire closed in on Waverly.

‘Wynonna help!’ Waverly screamed holding the spade in front of her like it was going to do any good. Laughing, the vampire wrenched the spade out of her hands and broke it in two before throwing the two pieces away. At her scream, Wynonna was filled with more adrenaline. Using her strength she leant forward catapulting the vampire over shoulders. Before he had even landed on the grass she rammed her stake into his chest. As he dusted Wynonna moved through the cloud of his remains to where Waverly was being taunted by the other vampire.

‘Hey…’ Wynonna called causing him to turn. ‘Like to pick on helpless girls do you? How manly.’

Seeming a lot more content to be fighting the slayer, he moved forward to attack. Wynonna however was quicker and spun with a high kick connecting with his jaw. He stumbled backwards unbalanced. Unfortunately, he did so right in the direction of where Waverly was standing. As he knocked into her they both fell to the floor. Wynonna prepared to be horrified, but to her utter surprise the vampire exploded into dust on top of Waverly. As he disappeared, a coughing and spluttering Waverly appeared holding one of the snapped off ends of the spade with jagged wooden edge sticking up.

Wynonna exhaled in surprise and helped Waverly to her feet, ‘I figured the pointy wooden end goes in the bad vampire?’ she asked a little flippantly.

Dusting the vampire off Waverly’s coat, Wynonna tried not to laugh, ‘you were supposed to run and hide.’

‘I know,’ Waverly admitted. ‘I just couldn’t…’

Wynonna looked a little impressed, ‘well it was very brave.’ Waverly grinned proudly. ‘Now, with the greatest respect, I think I should do the rest of this patrol alone. It is a school night and only one of us should be yawning in class tomorrow… at least for being tired.’

‘You sure?’ Waverly checked a little relieved after her close encounter.

‘Absolutely.’

‘Okay, you be safe…’ Waverly ordered her.

‘Yes, you too…’ he reached into her pocket and pulled out a cross and some holy water. She handed them to Waverly. ‘Just in case. Walk quickly to your jeep okay. No detours. I’ll check you got home on my way past.’

‘You’re going to peer in my bedroom window?’ Waverly asked a little unnerved.

‘I’ll check for your jeep you idiot,’ Wynonna said rolling her eyes. ‘My god Waverly, you really are one of a kind.’ She waved her goodbyes and headed off into the darkness of the night.

For a few moments, Waverly watched her go before getting a tight grip on the cross and holy water and making her way out of the graveyard at a quick pace. Her jeep was parked just outside. Just as she neared it she heard a growl behind her. Knowing exactly what it belonged to Waverly whirled round to see another vampire charging her way. This time it was a woman who had clearly come from the punk rock days with her black hair, leather and many piercings.

With trembling fingers, Waverly unscrewed the top of the holy water and held it out in front of her with the cross, ‘stay back… I will use these…’ the vampire was completely unmoved and kept coming. ‘Oh god, I’m going to die… Wynonna!’ She looked around but Wynonna was nowhere in sight. ‘Wynonna!’

With a malicious grin spreading across her face the vampire raised her arm to strike Waverly down. Waverly closed her eyes waiting for it to come, but it never did. Instead she heard the vampire groan and the sound of someone’s body making contact with stone. Opening her eyes, Waverly saw the same red headed woman, who had saved herself and Wynonna before, lay into the vampire. She kicked the vampire so that it reeled back and eventually fell over. The other woman went to bend down to grab the vampire by the collar but the vampire kicked her in the chest sending her backwards. Waverly held her breath for a moment, but the woman recovered and struck the vampire across the face with a solid fist, blow after blow. Dazed and confused he vampire finally stumbled against another monument only to look up and see the woman drive a stake in to her chest. The woman waited for her to dust before she replaced her stake in her long black leather coat.

She then turned and looked at Waverly who stood stunned at what she had just witnessed. She should have dead… again. The cross and holy water hung limply in her hands as her eyes met the woman’s. Dark brown and soulful they stared back before as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone. Without even a smile, the woman had turned and disappeared into the shadows.

Waverly stared at the spot where she had stood, ‘who the hell are you?’

 

Cautiously, Wynonna entered the room making her way through jungle of chairs, science desks and the many species of teenager that sat on them. As she neared the back she spotted that Mercedes had taken her place with her normal crew and in front of them Waverly sat with a boy she hadn’t seen before. Seeing the desk in front of Waverly was empty she took her place and looked round a little intrigued, especially when she noticed that his arm rested on the back of her chair and he was leaning in. She waited for Waverly to realise she was there. It didn’t take long.

‘Oh hi Wynonna,’ she smiled. ‘Sleep well?’

Wynonna hid her laughter, ‘it was a successful night yes.’ She could see Waverly loved their in joke.

Waverly then noticed that Wynonna’s questioning gaze was drifting to her lab partner, ‘oh… this is Perry… my boyfriend.’

‘Oh,’ Wynonna blinked surprised.

‘Perry, this is Wynonna, she’s the one I’ve been telling you about.’ At this Wynonna looked at her unamused. ‘About how she’s moved down the road from me and has come from the city.’ Waverly added quickly. Wynonna let out a sigh of relief.

‘Nice to meet you,’ Perry smiled politely.

‘Nice to meet you too…’ Wynonna looked at the unlikely pair surprised that Waverly hadn’t mentioned him before. ‘I haven’t seen you around school… well… since I’ve been here?’

‘My parents are divorced,’ Perry explained. ‘So I’ve just been visiting my Dad in New York… the school allows it a few times a year.’

Wynonna went to reply but the entire class’ attention was taken by the entrance of a teacher they were not expecting. Instead of the elderly science teacher they were used to, in walked a handsome young man that couldn’t have been older than thirty. His blonde hair was swept back neatly with glasses that suited his well-structured face. Beneath his tightly fitting black jumper was a body that clearly saw the inside of the gym regularly. At the front of the class, Jeremy was transfixed.

‘Good morning,’ he said with a deep resonating voice.

‘Oh hello,’ Wynonna said so Waverly could hear. ‘Captain my captain.’ Waverly giggled in reply.

‘Apologies for being slightly late, I was brought in last minute to replace Mr Newman.’ He placed his briefcase down and picked up a piece of chalk. ‘My name is Mr Davis. I will be teaching you until his return.’ He wrote his name on the board and turned back giving the girls and Jeremy time to pick their jaws up off the floor. ‘So I understand you’ve been looking at insects and other species?’

‘Er… er… yes…’ Jeremy stammered reaching to pick up his book. In his haste it slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor causing his classmates to laugh cruelly at his expense.

‘That’s enough,’ Mr Davis snapped at the class.

Flustered, Jeremy bent down to pick it up but was shocked to see that Mr Davis had got their first. He stared at Jeremy intensely as he handed the book back. ‘Th… thank you…’ Jeremy whispered thoroughly embarrassed.

Mr Davis flashed him a dashing smile before returning to his desk, ‘I’ll be needing a few pupils to help me with a project after school. It will be to carry on what you have been learning about.’ He leant forward on the desk causing his muscly arms to become more obvious. ‘Any volunteers?’ All around the class, girls’ hands flew into the air but Mr Davis was only looking at one pupil. ‘How about you?’ Jeremy wasn’t even looking at him as he wallowed in memories of the class laughing at him, again. ‘At the front…’ Jeremy then realised that Mr Davis was talking to him. ‘Want to help out?’

‘Me?’ Jeremy checked to ensure another misstep didn’t give the class another excuse to ridicule him.

‘Yes… I have another pupil from my other class this evening, but maybe you can help me out tomorrow?’

Jeremy could barely believe it as Mr Davis’ perfect blue eyes stared at him, ‘… su… sure…’ he answered wondering if he’d fallen asleep.

‘He just had to be gay didn’t he?’ Wynonna muttered under her breath to Waverly.

 

As night fell over Purgatory, Waverly had braved another evening of patrol with Wynonna. It was that or hear all about Perry’s trip to New York and the decision was easy. She loved watching Wynonna fight, despite the danger it put her in.

‘Why is Jeremy picked on?’ Wynonna asked as they walked through the industrial area of Purgatory. With huge warehouses and many abandoned buildings, it was the perfect place for vampires to hide out and make nests. Waverly had come prepared that night holding her own stake and wearing a wooden cross around her neck.

‘I don’t know… maybe because of his sexuality, he’s never hidden it,’ Waverly replied. ‘It’s completely wrong the negative attention he gets for it. I actually admire him for being who he is and so brave about it.’

‘It’s brutal,’ Wynonna agreed. She stopped walking and slowly looked at Waverly. ‘You’re friends with him aren’t you?’ Waverly looked away from the moment, as thought she was guilty. ‘I saw you two, laughing in a classroom on one of my first days at the school…’

Waverly continued to avoid her eye contact and sigh sadly, ‘we’ve been friends since we were young. He used to live in our little cluster. He moved away for a while, something to do with his family, and when he came back, that’s when it started. By then I was friends with Mercedes and the others. They made it very clear that I couldn’t be friends with him.’ Her guilt was obvious as tears began to appear in her eyes. ‘I hate it Wynonna. He’s never done a thing to me and here I am associating myself with people who are just cruel. They make it their business to be cruel.’

Wynonna stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on Waverly’s shoulder, ‘high school is about survival. You’re doing what you can to survive. And I’ve never heard you say anything cruel to or about him…’

‘I should stand up for him though, I know that…’ she wiped her eyes as the tears fell. ‘I just know my life will be hell if I do… I’m not brave Wynonna… not like you.’

‘You sure?’ Wynonna asked. ‘You’re on patrol again with me aren’t you?’

‘Which she will learn to regret soon slayer!’ the gruff voice caused both of them to spin around. A vampire stood either side of them whilst they found themselves in a thin alley.

‘Go against the wall,’ Wynonna instructed. ‘And hold your stake out.’ Waverly did as she was told whilst Wynonna moved to take one of the vampires on. She hoped the other would want to defend his friend but with no soul, vampires care for no one but themselves. Dressed in leather and with his bald head glinting in the moonlight which crept in alley he made his way over to Waverly. She thrust the cross out in front of her which repelled him for a few moments, before he was able to knock it out of her hand. Waverly watched it clatter on the concrete floor before she raised her stake and tried to bring it down at his heart but he was too quick and strong. He caught her arm and twisted it so she yelled out in pain and dropped the stake to the floor near the cross. Soon, Waverly felt his strong hand around her throat as he rammed her up against the wall. She groaned at the impact of her back against the brick.

‘Wyn… onna…’ the cry barely escaped her mouth as the vampires grip around her neck stifled her voice. Glancing sideways, Wynonna was deep in battle with the other vampire. She was aware of Waverly’s plight but was struggling to overcome her opponent to get to her.

‘Oh you are going to taste so sweet…’ the vampire sneered as he leaned in to Waverly who stared at him petrified clawing at his hands desperate to break free. The vampire opened his mouth as he neared her neck but just as his teeth were about to pierce her skin he was ripped away and thrown against the other wall. Waverly fell to the floor coughing and spluttering before she was able to look up and see the familiar red head making short work of the vampire. She pushed him up against the wall and stabbed the stake Waverly had dropped deep into his chest. The moment he exploded into dust, the woman looked back and made a quick exit out of the alleyway. Waverly was not going to let her escape this time and followed her out of the narrow alley.

‘Wait!’ she cried. To her surprise the woman stopped and slowly turned around. Waverly was taken a back immediately by her appearance. Dressed in black, she wore black leather boots, black jeans, a tight fitting black top and a sleek black full-length leather coat which hugged her slender figure. Long wavy red hair spilled over her shoulders which silkiness reflected the moonlight now able to shine fully on them as they stood in an open yard between the buildings. Her now evident pale skin allowed her brown eyes to stand out even more. ‘Who are you?’

‘Just someone in the right place at the right time,’ the woman replied.

She turned to leave but Waverly wasn’t finished, ‘but that’s the second time… or maybe the third…’ the woman looked back. ‘… you keep saving our… my life… are you following us?’

A smile spread over the woman’s mouth, ‘I’m not following your friend.’

Surprise overcame Waverly, ‘me? You’re following me? Why?’

‘Because I think you need protecting,’ she answered. Her gaze was genuine and intense whilst her face remained soft and alluring.

‘Why?’ Waverly was utterly perplexed. Until a week ago, life was normal. She was cheerleader, had a boyfriend and went to school. Now she was friends with a slayer, fighting vampires and had mysterious women wanting to protect her. ‘I’m nothing special.’

The woman laughed softly as she continued to stare at Waverly almost longingly, ‘oh Waverly… you don’t know how special you are…’

This stopped Waverly’s thoughts completely as she tried to process the words. Once her mind began to gather itself she went to reply, but behind her Wynonna had finally defeated the vampire and was sprinting towards them. Waverly looked over her shoulder as she heard the slayer approach and when she looked back the woman had gone. She was just left looking at an empty yard.

‘Are you okay?’ Wynonna asked out of breath.

Waverly stared at her almost open mouthed, looked at the space where the woman had just stood and then back Wynonna, ‘I’m really not sure…’

 

In the library, Wynonna took a seat and began to stretch ready for her training session with Nedley. However, instead of coming in his usual cool and composed way, he burst in brandishing the newspaper and slammed in down in front of Wynonna. It caused her to jump sharply a little startled.

‘What’s up Neddles? Did the last tweed manufacturer in town close down?’

He glared at her unimpressed, ‘he’s here,’ he stated pointing to the headline. Seeing the serious look on his face, Wynonna stood up so she could see it clearly.

‘Boy, 16 disappears, the fourth in as many towns,’ she read. She looked at Nedley lost. ‘I’m not sure what this means.’

‘We’ve been tracking this,’ Nedley explained. ‘We, The Council, picked it up a few towns back. One of my fellow watchers who resides in Edmonton noticed a pattern emerging. This person or thing comes to town, somehow gets near to pupils, kidnaps or lures them and then they’re not seen again.’

‘How would he get near to pupils?’ Wynonna asked trying to follow him.

‘That’s what I’m trying to figure out…’ Nedley admitted removing his glasses and rubbing his forehead. ‘Maybe he’s a pupil or I don’t know…’

Wynonna face fell at a sudden thought, ‘or a cover a teacher?’ Nedley looked at her confused. ‘We had a new cover teacher in science class yesterday!’ Now Nedley was on board. The look he gave her told her he needed to hear more. ‘He was young, maybe twenty six or seven, smoking hot, but clearly gay… unfortunately… such a shame…’

‘Wynonna!’

‘Sorry… he seemed…’ she paused horrified. ‘… oh my god, he was really interested in Jeremy!’

‘Jeremy?’ Nedley frowned.

‘This gay kid in our class… oh crap, he asked Jeremy to go over to his house this evening to help him with a project.’

‘That’s it!’ Nedley exclaimed. ‘That’s how he does it! Right, you need to see if you can find out where this cover teacher lives, if he gave any address and I will see if I can find out any more about the other victims to see what we’re dealing with.’ Simultaneously, Wynonna gathered up her bag and round of the library whilst Nedley raced into his office to dig out the newspaper clippings and note that he had been taking during every stage of the unfolding investigation.

As Wynonna flew out of the library she almost knocked Waverly off her feet. Her thoughts completely fixed upon her encounter with the mysterious woman the previous night, Waverly had been heading to the library to see if Nedley’s books could enlighten her on at least the woman’s name.

‘Oh Jesus Waverly, thank god,’ she pulled Waverly’s arm motioning for Waverly to join her. ‘You have to help me… Jeremy is in danger.’ At this, Waverly didn’t argue. She just quickened her walk into a run as Wynonna sped down the hallway towards the principal’s office.

 

In the fireplace a fire flickered gently as candles lay littered out all over the room. The lights were dimmed and gentle jazz music drifted across the room as Jeremy stood open mouthed in the doorway. From around the sofa, Mr Davis walked over to him. Once again, wearing a tight fighting jumper, Jeremy couldn’t help his eyes drifting up and down the toned man’s body.

‘Shall I take your jacket?’ Mr Davis said softly.

‘Um… er… yeah,’ Jeremy stammered no coherent thought in his brain. Mr Davis chuckled gently and disappeared out of the room with Jeremy’s coat. ‘Oh that was cool Jeremy,’ Jeremy cringed to himself.

‘Would you like a drink?’ came Mr Davis’ call which had now moved into the kitchen area attached to the living room.

‘Yeah sure,’ Jeremy shrugged. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked over trying to remain as calm as possible. ‘Nice place you got here…’

Mr Davis grinned, ‘thank you… only just moved in.’

‘Wow… it’s amazing.’ From the fridge, Mr Davis collected two beers, opened them and handed one to Jeremy ensuring he kept intense eye contact. ‘Drinking on the job… is that allowed?’

Ignoring his question, Mr Davis touched his arm, ‘shall we sit on the sofa?’

After taking a sip of his beer, Jeremy gulped audibly, ‘er… okay…’ Before he knew it Mr Davis had taken his hand and was leading him to the sofa which sat opposite the fire.

Mr Davis made sure he was sitting near Jeremy, close enough touch him. He did so, but reaching over and stroking Jeremy’s upper arm, ‘is this okay?’ Jeremy was simply speechless. ‘I’ll take that as a yes…’ Looking across, Jeremy watched as Mr Davis slowly traced his hand from Jeremy’s shoulder down his arm to his hand. Once there he took the beer from Jeremy’s hand and placed it to one side. ‘I think we should have something stronger.’ Without waiting for Jeremy’s response he reached down beside the sofa and produced a bottle of tequila and some shot glasses. Keeping frequent eye contact with Jeremy he poured two shots and handed one to the stunned student.

‘Oh I can’t… it’s a school night… and me and shots, I tend to get all babbly and…’ Jeremy began but he was quickly stopped by Mr Davis’ finger on his lips.

‘Live a little…’ he flirted shamelessly. Bringing his glass up, he clinked it against Jeremy’s before they both swigged the shot back.

Jeremy blinked with a little cough as the liquid burned down his throat, ‘woah…’ she shook his head to deal with the feelings overcoming his body. ‘Well… that was…’ to his surprise his eyes began to blur. ‘… um… this is new… are my eyes supposed to be going blurry?’ He continued to blink and wipe them with his hands as it continued to get worse. Soon, he was beginning to feel dizzy. ‘What’s happening?’ He reached out for Mr Davis, but the now stoic stony faced man had stepped back causing Jeremy to fall forward onto the sofa unconscious. As Jeremy lay motionless on the sofa, Mr Davis, wearing a satisfied sneer, began to morph into something that was not human.

 

As they sprinted down the corridor their run was halted by a sudden sound coming from inside one of the classrooms. Instinctively, Wynonna motioned for Waverly to stand behind her as they inched towards the classroom door. With night having fallen over the school and it being a public building, anything was welcome to roam its grounds. Cautiously, Wynonna opened the door and peered inside. It was one of the science labs and appeared to be completely empty, but she had to make sure. Checking Waverly was still safe behind her, Wynonna crept forward keeping Waverly close.

‘What do you think it could be?’ Waverly whispered her hand on Wynonna’s shoulder for reassurance.

‘I’m not sure,’ Wynonna admitted under her breath. ‘Could be anything. Stay close to me.’

Reaching the middle of the lab, the girls took advantage of their vantage point to scope the entire room. However, there was nothing insight, ‘should we check around?’

‘Yes,’ Wynonna nodded. ‘But be careful!’

Waverly lifted her thumb to show Wynonna she had received her instruction as the two parted to search opposite ends of the lab. Wynonna headed to the back where the equipment was kept whilst Waverly approached the teacher’s bench and the cupboard that stood behind. Her eyes were instantly drawn to it and reached to the turn the handle. Once she had, she immediately wished she hadn’t and from her scream, Wynonna soon knew her plight.

‘Waverly!’ she flew through the benches to a sight of Waverly scrambling out from underneath the corpse of a man dressed in science lab coat. The man had clearly been bitten numerous times and his body was covered in wounds from a violent struggle. Mortified, Waverly dusted herself down and hung onto Wynonna’s arm tightly. ‘Who is that?’

‘Mr Newman,’ Waverly breathed.

Wynonna looked at her, ‘the one that Mr Davis has replaced?’

‘Yeah,’ Waverly nodded, then caught Wynonna’s horrified expression. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘He’s at his house,’ Wynonna stated her thoughts trying to catch up with her words. ‘He’s at Mr Newman’s house!’ Without another word she turned on her heels and ran out of the door.

‘Who is at Mr Newman’s house?’ Waverly cried into the air as her eyes remained on the dead body slumped on the floor in front of her. Finally able to peel her eyes away, she turned in a similar fashion to Wynonna to catch up with her in the hallway.

 

Opening his eyes, Jeremy found he was no longer in the living room. Looking around him at the metal bars and darkness of the room, it didn’t take him long to realise he was in a basement in a cage.

‘What the…’ he breathed beginning to panic. Scrabbling to his feet he rushed forward to where the door to the cage was and peered out to see thick spider webs hanging from the ceiling. They covered the entire room and the center; Jeremy’s eyes came to rest on a large nest of sticks filled with eggs. ‘Okay… I’ve fallen asleep… I’ve totally fallen asleep…’

‘You haven’t…’ Startled, Jeremy spun round to see that his wasn’t the only cage in the basement. Next to him another boy sat huddled within his own metal bars. ‘It’s real… as well as how real us getting dead is.’ Jeremy moved closer to the divide between them to hear more. ‘I’ve seen it twice now, the two before me. It’s not actually a guy man… it’s a female. We’re here because, she wants to…’ his faced creased up in horror just at the thought.

‘What? What does she want to do?’

‘Oh god man, it’s too horrible,’ he covered his face with his hands and began to sob.

Jeremy, however, had made a very intelligent guess, ‘oh man…’ he swallowed looking out of his cage as a huge shadow appeared on the other side of the basement. ‘She wants to mate with us…’

 

When she finally reached Wynonna she saw that she was not alone. Clearly conveying what she had just figured out to Nedley, the two were in the deep conversation. With his hand on his head, Nedley stepped back upon hearing of the death of his colleague.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Wynonna said softly.

‘He was a good man,’ Nedley sighed. His mind seemed to dwell on his grief for a moment before he pulled himself out and refocused his attention on Wynonna. ‘So you think Mr Davis is at Mr Newman’s house.’

‘Mr Davis?’ Waverly asked. ‘What the hell is going on?’

‘I’m sorry Waverly, I’ll catch you up… we just have to sort this,’ Wynonna looked back at Nedley. ‘Do you know where Mr Newman lives?’

‘Yes… yes… I went there for a poker game once,’ Nedley said gathering his thoughts.

Wynonna took a moment to acknowledge this, ‘poker?’ she smirked. ‘You are a man of surprises.’

‘Wynonna!’ Waverly snapped.

‘Right,’ Wynonna jolted herself back into focus. ‘Come on Nedley, you’re driving!’ Without arguing Nedley followed the two girls as they tore down corridor and out of the front door leaving Mr Newman’s dead body the only human left in the building.

 

‘You think he’s a bug?’ both Wynonna and Waverly exclaimed together.

‘Don’t shout,’ Nedley pleaded as he swerved his small class yellow beetle around another bend. In the back, Wynonna and Waverly held on tightly to the seats in front of them. ‘Yes, I called my friend in Edmonton and they found traces of what appeared to be spider’s webs and eggs in a basement under a house.’

‘Eggs?’ Wynonna checked.

‘Yes eggs…’ Nedley repeated.

‘Then he’s not a…’ Wynonna started.

‘No…’ Nedley nodded.

‘He’s… a she.’

‘Yep.’

‘What does she need Jeremy for?’ Waverly asked without thinking. As soon as she said it she saw Nedley’s eyes looking at her in his windscreen mirror and Wynonna turned to stare at her dumbfounded. ‘Oh…’ Waverly flinched as it came to her. ‘Poor Jeremy.’

‘Can’t this thing go any faster?’ Wynonna urged Nedley.

‘She’s a classic!’ Nedley argued gripping the car’s steering wheel harder. ‘I have to treat her with respect.’

‘Jeremy could die Nedley,’ Waverly reminded him.

After a pause, Nedley stepped on the gas, ‘I’m sure she’ll respect that this is a particular case. Hold on!’ Grateful of the warning the girls grabbed the seats again as the sound of screeching tyres ripped into the air as they screamed around another corner and shot down a long straight street. To their relief, Nedley brought the car to a stop outside a modest unassuming house. Without waiting to check with it was indeed Mr Newman’s, Wynonna pushed past Waverly to clamber out of the front door and run up to the front door. Behind her, Waverly and Nedley jogged up as Wynonna as there appeared to be no answer. With a worried look, Nedley motioned for her to go round the back with the intention of finding access to the basement.

 

‘Oh god… help me!’

Helpless, Jeremy watched as the boy from the other cell was being dragged out by a spider that stood the size of a bear before them. A monstrous black creature, its legs and fangs grabbed and lashed at the boy as he flailed his arms around desperate to try and pull himself away.

Outside, Wynonna, Waverly and Nedley froze on the spot as they heard the cry. After a quick glance at each other they ran towards where they thought the sound was coming from and was relieved to find a partially covered entrance leading down into the floor below. In her haste to rescue her friend Waverly proceeded to go first, but Wynonna pulled her back to ensure that she would face whatever was down there first. Next to the entrance Nedley saw a gardening fork and spade. Taking the spade he handed the fork to Waverly and nodded. Thankful, Waverly held it across her body with both hands as they followed Wynonna down into the darkness.

‘Stop it!’ Jeremy screamed as the spider began to devour its prey, but its meal was interrupted with the entrance of Wynonna.

‘Man alive!’ she gasped almost falling backwards into Waverly and Nedley. ‘You should have said giant big ass bug Neddles.’ They took a moment to absorb the sight of the beast in front of them before Wynonna realised she held a victim in her claws. ‘You get Jeremy… go!’ As commanded, Nedley and Waverly hugged the edge of the basement as Wynonna approached the spider. ‘Hey!’ With a strange screech the huge spider dropped the injured boy and turned to face Wynonna. ‘People aren’t for snacks you know…’ Clearly angered, the spider lunged forward stabbing down with one of its feet. Wynonna moved quickly and sprang to safety. Hidden in the shadows for a moment, Wynonna looked out at the task ahead of her. ‘Oh how I wish I had a plan…’

Behind the monster, Waverly and Nedley had safely reached the cage. It didn’t take long to spot the keys hanging on the back wall. With shaking hands Waverly managed to unlock Jeremy’s cage whilst Nedley dragged the injured boy away from where the spider was intent of finishing off the slayer.

‘Waves,’ Jeremy breathed in relief. ‘How did you know I was…’

‘Long story,’ Waverly cut in. ‘Right now, we have to get out of here….’ She turned her head to where Wynonna continued to jump, backflip and leap out of harm’s way. There seemed to be no way she could penetrate through the spider’s defences. ‘Nedley… we need to distract it!’

Nedley’s looked bewildered, ‘we need to do what?’

‘Get them out! Jeremy help him!’ she pointed to the injured boy.

Grabbing her arm Jeremy pulled her back, ‘what are you going to do?’

A proud smile spread over Waverly’s face as she gripped the gardening fork, ‘I’m going to help a slayer…’ spinning she began to make her way to the edge of basement once again.

Jeremy stared after her, ‘a slayer?’

‘Hey!’ Waverly shouted tapping metal of her fork on the brick work. ‘Hey! Over here!’

‘Oh my god Waverly, what are you doing?’ Wynonna muttered horrified. Then as the spider looked away she realised that the girl was brilliant. As soon as the spider looked away Wynonna was able to move around so she was out of sight again. Glancing around she saw a long fire poker hanging on the wall. Taking it up in her hand she moved behind the spider once again as it advanced on Waverly. Terrified, Waverly pushed herself closer into the wall as the spider quickly closed the gap between them. Wynonna however leapt into action once again soaring through the air landing on the creature’s back. The creature buckled and screamed beginning to thrash its long legs around to try to dislodge her.

Whilst it was distracted once again, Waverly beckoned for Nedley and Jeremy to drag the other boy across her and out of the basement entrance. Pleadingly once at the stairs, Jeremy waved for Waverly to follow them but she wasn’t going anywhere until the beast was defeated. Looking back, Waverly watched as Wynonna finally found her grip and raised the poker above her head. With all her might, she brought it down driving it through its ebony shell causing the spider to scream once again and thick black blood to spew out of the wound all over Wynonna. In agony, the spider bucked and writhed; the poker still sticking out of its back. As it did so, it caught sight of Waverly standing alone against the wall. Furious it launched itself forward, but Waverly was too quick. Almost automatically she held the fork out in front of her causing the beast to impale itself and the same black blood to spray out of the new wound all over Waverly.

After a last few violent jerks felt by the entire house the ginormous spider finally lay still. Its vast body filled up most of the basement as the whole place fell silent. Waverly allowed herself to open her eyes feeling the foul smelling substance all over her dripping onto the floor. She let go of the fork and wiped it from her eyes. From around the beast’s body Wynonna emerged looking similarly revolted. They looked at each other and without a word began to make their way out of the basement.

 

Once they out in the open, Jeremy and Nedley were able to see the unfortunate fate they had succumbed to. Catching his eye, Waverly glared at Jeremy who was trying to stifle a laugh, ‘not a word Chetri, not a word,’ she spat.

‘You saved my life…’ Jeremy said quickly. ‘For that I am eternally grateful.’

Seeing the state of his slayer, Nedley took off his jacket and handed it to Wynonna to use as a towel. She took it gratefully and wiped her face free of the stick black blood that clung to every part of her body it landed on. After satisfied that none of it could drip into her mouth she threw the jacket to Waverly who did the same.

‘Come on… we need to get this lad to the hospital,’ Nedley said as he wrapped an arm around the boy’s waist and hoisted him up. The boy was able to stand but was barely with it as blood dripped down his head and from a wound in his chest. Jeremy rushed to the other side and helped Nedley get the boy into the back of the car. Seeing their struggle, Wynonna joined them. From where she stood, Waverly watched as Nedley told her to touch as little of his car as possible with only her face free of the spider’s blood.

‘That was impressive,’ although it was soft voice, Waverly still whirled round startled to see the red head stood underneath a tree behind her.

Waverly allowed herself to breathe again, ‘you have to stop doing that.’ The red head just chuckled as Waverly continued to wipe the black blood from her face and neck. It seemed to have seeped deep into every part of her face. The red head didn’t take her eyes of Waverly as she did so. It took a few moments for Waverly to become aware of this. ‘It doesn’t feel too impressive now…’

‘It was… very brave… I thought I was going to have to help but you saw it through.’

Waverly smiled at her words, ‘I think I’ll believe it more when I get this stuff off me…’

The woman laughed again, but then something over Waverly’s shoulder caught her eye, ‘I have to go…’ she turned to disappear into the dark.

‘Wait…’ Waverly called stepping forward towards her. The woman looked back. ‘If you’re going to keep turning up like this, can’t I at least know your name?’

Aware of Wynonna approaching quickly, the woman continued to fade into the shadows, ‘Nicole,’ she replied. Waverly nodded pleased to finally know. ‘And Waverly…’ their eyes met. ‘You still look amazing, even when covered in black goo…’ she flashed a flirtatious smile before she vanished from sight just before Wynonna arrived by Waverly’s side.

Speechless, Waverly gawped at the spot where Nicole had just stood. Next to her, Wynonna peered into the bushes trying to work out what had caught Waverly’s attention. ‘What are you looking at?’

At the sound of Wynonna’s voice, Waverly shook herself and met her friend’s eyes, ‘nothing… just thinking about what just happened… crazy huh?’

‘I don’t think crazy quite covers it… all I know is that I need a long shower…’ she linked arms with Waverly the blood covering their arms making an unnerving squelching sound. Wynonna and Waverly stopped walking and looked at each other. With the danger over, they allowed themselves to burst into laughter at the state they were in. Still lingering in the darkness, Nicole watched as the pair made their way over to Nedley’s car before he told them there was no way they were getting in. Instead, Wynonna and Waverly were in for a long walk home.


	4. The Initiative

As Wynonna sat trying to find safety at the back, noise erupted in the gymnasium. Raising her head out of her hands she sat up straighter to catch a glimpse of Waverly entering with the rest of the cheerleading squad. Dressed in their tight fitting blue and white uniforms they waved their silver and blue pompoms in the air whilst grinning at the crowd. To Wynonna’s left further down the bleachers, Wynonna spotted Perry cheering enthusiastically as he watched his girlfriend take her position as the squad prepared to dance. Wynonna rolled her eyes, even when she was popular in LA, this had never really been her scene. Soon, pumping music was blaring out of the speakers all around the hall as the squad sprang into life to perform for the hundreds of students that had filled the hall ready for the game. The only one slumping back instead of pumping her fists in the air like those around her, Wynonna was relieved when she saw Jeremy snaking his way through the crowd to sit beside her.  
‘Hey,’ he smiled. ‘Hiding at the back… sensible.’  
‘Yup, only here for Waverly,’ Wynonna nodded.  
Jeremy chuckled, ‘me too… I usually avoid these things. It’s basically a hunting crowd for them,’ he gestured at the crowd in front of them ‘… on me,’ he said a little sadly. ‘But, since she saved my life and all, I figured I should risk it. I also had the hope that you would be here…’  
‘And here I am,’ Wynonna smiled.  
‘It’s nice,’ Jeremy said carefully. ‘To have someone to sit with.’ Wynonna didn’t feel the need to say anything, instead she gave him a comforting pat on the back to reassure him that he did indeed have a friend in her. Feeling the reassurance, Jeremy turned his eyes to watch Waverly impressively spin and high kick as part of the routine. ‘She’s good isn’t she?’  
‘The girl has got skill,’ Wynonna agreed.  
The pair watched as the squad came together to hoist one of their own high to finish with a flourish. Positioned at the side, Waverly knelt on one knee and held her pompoms in the air waving them proudly. The gymnasium erupted into another cheer, appreciative of their exciting performance. Next to Waverly, Mercedes grinned out at her adoring fans lapping up all the attention. Waverly’s eyes moved to where Wynonna and Jeremy sat at the back. She was surprised to see them, but also delighted. Jeremy gave her a little wave to which Waverly smiled. Beside her, Mercedes caught the exchange and her grin vanished for a few seconds. She brushed the moment off and restored her game face as she looked up again at the cheering crowd.  
Back in the bleachers, Wynonna had noticed something off to the side of Jeremy, a young man around their age glancing over his shoulder at the oblivious boy beside her. Wynonna smirked amused feeling pleased for Jeremy. She leaned into Jeremy, ‘don’t look now, but there’s a boy to your left looking at you like you’re the fudge to his sundae.’  
Instantly, Jeremy sat bolt upright, ‘what, where?’  
Wynonna shook her head, ‘subtle Jeremy, subtle.’ Grabbing hold of his jumper, Wynonna pulled him back down again. ‘If you know what subtle means, look to your left, cute boy in the blue jumper…’  
Nervous, Jeremy tried to be as discrete as possible and the saw the boy Wynonna was referring to but he was looking away, ‘no he’s not…’ he muttered.  
‘Trust me Jeremy… he was.’  
‘No…’ he laughed sadly. ‘No one checks me out.’

Content with her part in the performance, Waverly returned to the lockers to collect her things. She had just turned the corner when she felt a firm had on her shoulder push her into the wall. Shocked, she looked up into the disapproving eyes of Mercedes who loomed over her.  
‘Tell me I didn’t see you actually smile at Jeremy?’ she asked nastily.  
Inside, Waverly panicked, but she kept her face calm, ‘no… of course not.’  
‘I definitely saw you smile at him Gibson,’ Mercedes stated crossing her arms. ‘Are you saying I made it up?’  
‘No!’ Waverly exclaimed. ‘Not at all… I wasn’t smiling at him, I was smiling at Wynonna.’  
‘Wynonna?’ Mercedes looked unconvinced.  
‘Yeah… I mean, she lives on my road. It was nice that came out to watch me…’ she could tell her voice was beginning to shake. ‘I wasn’t smiling at Jeremy.’  
Mercedes studied her for a moment through thinning eyes, ‘you better not… because I will not have people who associate with freaks in my squad, do you understand me?’  
Waverly stared at her for a moment, then collected her thoughts, ‘of course… of course I understand.’ Mercedes glared at her for a moment before picking up her bag and sauntering out of the lockers. Left alone in the dark, Waverly closed her eyes thoroughly disappointed with herself.

Turning the stake over in her hand, Wynonna brushed off the latest dust from her most effective weapon. The female vampire she had just taken on had been a tough one but since her training had resumed with Nedley, Wynonna was able to use some of the newly learnt skills to see her off. Enjoying the feeling of satisfaction from her latest kill, Wynonna raised her head to continue her patrol through the woods. What she did not expect was to step into a net, which catapulted up into the air the moment her food touched a part of its rope. Taking Wynonna with it, it swung violently from side to side amongst the trees before it finally came to a rest trapping the slayer inside. Astonished, Wynonna took a moment to look around her and process what just happened. She had barely begun to do this when out of the bushes at least a dozen men in army uniforms and black balaclavas appeared all pointing their guns up at her. Accepting the situation as hopeless, Wynonna sat back in the net and slowly put her hands in the air.  
‘Seriously, don’t you know that sneaking up on a lady in the dark is bad manners?’

The drink glasses shaking slightly in her hands, Waverly made her way through the gatherings of students towards where Mercedes, Perry and the others were gathered. Relieved to make it, she slid them onto the table where they were snapped up quickly. As a thank you, Perry wrapped his arm around Waverly’s waist and kissed her head. Slightly irritated, Waverly looked at the spot where her drink should have been. Instead it had been snapped up ungratefully by one of her so called friends.  
‘Guess I’m going back then,’ she sighed.  
‘I can go…’ Perry offered moving to get up.  
‘No… it’s fine…’ Waverly was actually grateful for an excuse to get away from the group. She sent Perry a weak smile before turning and making her way back across the floor to the bar.   
Shorty’s had once been a dilapidated bar lost and forgotten until the man himself had decided to do it up and turn it into a hangout for young people. Aware of the strange goings on and precarious it was for the youth of the town, Shorty wanted to create a space where young people could socialise and be safe. With no alcohol, but frequent gig nights, pool, darts, TVs showing sports and affordable food, it was the perfect place for most of Purgatory High’s pupils to visit each night.  
Reaching the bar once again, Waverly rested her arms on it and waited to be served. She was very aware of the eyes that were upon her and glanced sideways to see the person she sensed moving through the crowd towards her. Now dressed in a waist length black leather jacket, black top and black trousers, Nicole smiled softly as she leant back against the bar next to Waverly.  
‘Are you going to stick around this time?’ Waverly asked with an amused laugh. ‘Or will you disappear mid-conversation again?’  
‘Depends how well the conversation is going?’ Nicole answered coyly. Chuckling, Waverly held her gaze before moving her eyes away. There was something so enthralling about the mysterious woman who stood before her. ‘I have to say… I don’t really approve of your friends.’  
Waverly exhaled surprised, ‘excuse me?’  
Nicole looked back through the crowd at them, ‘their manner and attitude… they don’t treat you well.’  
‘And what would you know?’ Waverly scoffed. ‘You don’t know us or me.’ Nicole raised her eyebrows, surprised at Waverly’s tone. Waverly closed her eyes, regretting her outburst immediately. ‘Sorry… you didn’t deserve that.’   
‘You can do better…’ Nicole said her voice remaining soft.   
Glancing up, Waverly wondered about the meaning behind Nicole’s words, ‘are you saying… you want to be friends?’ she asked knowing full well how it sounded.  
Nicole met and held Waverly’s eyes, ‘Are you offering?’ Waverly found herself simply gazing back, completely transfixed with Nicole’s beautiful brown eyes. It was only a shout from Perry across the bar that caused Waverly to look away.   
‘I better um…’ she looked around for Shorty a little confused with what she was feeling.  
‘Yes, you better had…’ she began to back away slowly. ‘I meant Wynonna by the way…’  
‘Wynonna?’  
‘When I said you could do better…’ Nicole replied. ‘When it comes to friends.’  
Waverly frowned, ‘you don’t want to be friends?’ To this, Nicole simply flashed Waverly a flirtatious smile before disappearing into the crowds and out of sight. Craning her neck, Waverly tried to catch one more glimpse, but Nicole was gone.  
Suddenly, Waverly felt two hands snake around her waist from the back. For a moment she froze in surprise, but then a smile spread across her face. Waverly thought Nicole must have returned to answer her last question. However, as scratchy unshaven skin brushes against her check, Waverly’s face dropped with a little disappointed as she realised who had embraced her.  
‘You’re taking your time,’ Perry laughed into her ear.  
With a half-smile, Waverly adjusted herself awkwardly in his arms, ‘it’s these damn servers… taking ages…’ she said wiggling herself free of his arms. She lent on the bar trying to get their attention. A little confused, Perry stood back then slowly slunk away into the crowds to re-join the group back in the seating area. Alone again, Waverly allowed her thoughts to return to Nicole. She glanced around, hoping she would reappear from the shadows.

Blinding lights greeted Wynonna as she was pushed through a pair of silver double doors. All around her more men and women in uniform bustled through the long white winding corridors. Her hands bound behind her, Wynonna was being held firmly by two army men either side of her as they marched her on. For security, three walked in front and three behind surrounding the slayer on all sides. She had tried to struggle against them, but they had used electro-rods to control and subdue her. After her fourth shock she had relinquished not enjoying the pain they had sent surging through her body.  
At the end of the corridor, Wynonna could see the doors to a lift. A tight security system was clearly in place as one of the men put his hand to a screen. A light scanned his hand and confirmed it was a match allowing the doors to open. Leaving four of the men outside, five accompanied Wynonna in the lift as it began to ascend. Looking round, Wynonna tried to read their faces, but they were all still covered with black balaclavas revealing only their eyes. Clearly very professional in everything they undertook, the man didn’t talk to each other. Instead, the grip on Wynonna remained secure and their eyes focused forward.  
Once the lift had reached the bottom level, the doors flew open revealing a vast room stretching out in front of them. Wynonna stared wide eyed at the sight in front of her. As she was led out of the lift, she was able to see over the edge of some railings into a large pit in which many breeds of monster and creature were being held either in cages or lying strapped to beds with numerous people in lab coats surrounding them. All manner of sounds rose out of the pit as the demons fought against their cages or reacted to the treatment they were receiving. Even though they were the very creatures Wynonna existed to fight, she actually felt sorry for them as she watched on.  
Beyond the pit, a large control station had been set up with large screens showing other recruits which appeared to be out on duty throughout Purgatory so their missions could be monitored. Many other men and women dressed in black sat at computers following their progress and communicating with them. In the middle a tall woman dressed in a white trouser suit with slick blonde hair was talking to a particular group relaying commands. Then, when Wynonna was brought forward, the focus of her attention changed completely.  
‘Agent 453, continue with caution and keep Station 56 updated throughout,’ she spoke into her headset before removing it from her ear and handing it to another recruit. Wynonna was brought to a halt in front of her as she looked the young girl up and down. ‘Well well… you’re one of the prettiest demons I’ve ever seen…’  
‘Excuse me?’ Wynonna blurted out dumbfounded. ‘I’m not a…’  
‘We’ve been watching you for a while…’ the woman continued. ‘Your powers are extraordinary…’  
Wynonna’s expression changed to approval, ‘well… thank you…’  
‘But you are clearly very dangerous…’ the woman interrupted. ‘Which is why I had Agent Dolls and Allenbach and their squad bring you in. We just have to find out what you are…’ She nodded to the men standing either side of her. Immediately they dragged over to some steps which led down into the pit. Horrified, Wynonna fought back immediately, despite the danger of being shocked repeatedly again. This time she was swift and flipped backwards forcing the agents either side of her let go. They landed on the floor whilst Wynonna managed to regain her balance despite having her hands bound behind her back. Using her strength however, she was able to break the weak metal links in the cuffs. Just as she had done this, she recognized that she was now surrounded by at least a dozen armed men and women and the fight was over before it had begun. In the center of the circle near her, the two men she had flattened had got to their feet and had joined those closing in on her.  
‘Oh not fair…’ Wynonna groaned lowering her hands. ‘I only brought a stake to a gun fight…’  
From the outside, the woman in charge stepped inside with a questioning look on her face, ‘a stake?’ Then, unexpectedly her eyes lit up, ‘are you a… slayer?’  
Wynonna looked at her warily, ‘and if I was?’   
‘Then I’d say that you were one of the most extraordinary catches that we have ever managed to trap,’ the woman said grinning. ‘I mean, we have heard of the existence of such a girl… but we thought it was folklore… a myth!’  
Realising that these people knew about the world she was supposed to hide, Wynonna resigned herself to revealing her identity, ‘I am the slayer,’ she stated a little reluctantly. ‘Does that mean I get to stay out of down there…’ she gestured behind her to the pit.  
There was a slight laugh from the woman as she gestured for all the soldiers surrounding them to lower their guns and stand down, ‘yes… as the slayer is on our side I do believe? You fight the creatures of the underworld?’  
‘That’s my job,’ Wynonna nodded. ‘Who are you people?’  
‘Well first… let me introduce myself,’ the woman stepped forward offering out her hand. ‘I’m Lucado and this…’ she held her hands out gesturing to everything around them. ‘… is The Initiative.’ Following Lucado’s hands, Wynonna took the chance to take in the whole place once more. Hi-tech, modern and swarming with technology she had never seen before as demons were led around and held in cages, Wynonna realised that she was standing inside a force to be reckoned with.

Despite knowing its risks, Waverly had taken the option to walk home on her own from Shorty’s. She had feigned to Mercedes, Perry and the others that she had started to feel unwell. Perry had offered to walk her home but Waverly convinced him to stay and catch up with his friends. In a strange way, Waverly knew she wasn’t really walking home on her own. She could feel the same presence with her that she had felt all the times that Nicole had revealed herself. It was comforting, it made Waverly feel safe.  
Once she was far enough away from the bar, Waverly lifted her head to look around for her, ‘I know you’re there…’ she said into the air.  
‘Really? I thought I was being stealthy!’  
It was not the voice she was expecting, ‘Jeremy?’ she cried out as he appeared next to her.  
‘Hey Waves,’ he smiled.  
‘How long have you been there?’  
‘Since Shorty’s,’ he shrugged. ‘I didn’t want to talk to you until we were far enough away…’ he looked at the floor. ‘Until your friends couldn’t see us.’  
Waverly felt the sting of guilt in her stomach, ‘Jeremy… I…’  
‘No… it’s okay,’ he said looking back up at her with a forced smile. ‘It’s just how it is right?’  
‘I hate it…’ Waverly admitted. ‘I’m questioning everything at the moment…’  
‘Wynonna has really thrown a spanner in the works of this place hasn’t she?’ Jeremy chuckled.  
‘She sure has… and other… things…’ she glanced sideways into the darkness wondering if Nicole really was there and if she could hear what they were saying.  
‘You happy to have Perry back?’ Jeremy asked as they began to walk on.  
‘Of course…’ Waverly tried to say as convincingly as possible. ‘… it’s just, everything is different now. I mean, it’s not been long, but I have this whole other life that’s opened up now.’  
‘How long have you been helping Wynonna?’  
‘Not long… but I love it Jeremy,’ her voice changed to excitement as she spoke. ‘The danger, the thrill. I’ve nearly died quite a few times, but that hasn’t put me off. I feel like this is what my life has been missing. It’s all I think about now, what’s going to be the next fight? What demon do we get to take on next?’  
‘Well, preferably not one after my manly bits!’ Jeremy declared.  
Waverly looked at him carefully, ‘how you feeling about all that?’  
‘Oh… mortified, humiliated and like I want to hide for about a year,’ he replied. ‘But that’s just a normal day in Jeremy’s little world of existence…’ Something caught his eye back up the path. ‘Hey isn’t that…?’  
Waverly looked back and immediately rolled her eyes, ‘Perry… I told him I would be okay…’  
‘Clearly he remembered chivalry…’ Jeremy sighed.  
Just then, out of nowhere, Nedley’s yellow beetle came to a screeching halt next to them. He wound down the window, ‘have either of you seen Wynonna?’ he asked a little frantic.  
Jeremy and Waverly look at each other shaking their heads, ‘no… sorry Nedley…’ Waverly noticed the worried expression on his face, ‘Why what’s wrong?’  
‘We were supposed to debrief after her patrol this evening, but she hasn’t come back,’ he replied.  
‘Oh man… do you want some help?’ Jeremy offered approaching the car.  
‘That would be appreciated Jeremy thank you,’ Nedley nodded opening to the passenger side door. In the car, Nedley and Jeremy at the door about to get in looked at Waverly waiting for her response.  
Stumped, Waverly looked back up at the path at the rapidly approaching Perry, she backed away, ‘I can’t…’ the looked of confliction on her face was clear. ‘I’m sorry…’  
‘Waverly…’ Jeremy urged pointing for her to get in the car. ‘It’s Wynonna…’  
‘I know…’ the pain in her decision was clear as well as the disappointment in it on Nedley’s. ‘I can’t.’ Shaking his head, Jeremy slid into the car and closed the door. As soon as he had, the car sped away down the road. Horrified at herself, Waverly watched it go almost forgetting that Perry was approaching behind her.  
‘Hey…’ he placed an arm around her shoulder. ‘You okay… were they bothering you?’ he asked.  
Trying to hide her tears, ‘no… just asking for directions.’  
‘Directions?’ Perry scoffed. ‘Chetri’s lived here all his life?’  
‘I know… it was weird,’ Waverly said quickly trying to brush it off. She hid her sadness and turned to smile at him. ‘Let’s forget it. You here to walk me home?’  
‘I am indeed,’ he grinned. ‘My conscience got the better of me and I had to see that you were okay.’  
‘How wonderfully boyfriendy of you,’ Waverly smiled throwing herself into the act. She accepted his kiss before arm in arm they began to make their way down the road. Knowing he couldn’t see her face, Waverly allowed it to fall as the worry of Wynonna’s whereabouts slipped back into her mind.

‘So when was the last time you heard from her?’ Jeremy asked as he and Nedley burst through the library doors.  
‘During her patrol, he called in to say she had dusted two vampires and was moving onto the next location I’d set for her and then I didn’t hear…’ he stopped dead as he eyes fell on Wynonna sitting in one of the library chairs right in front of them. ‘Wynonna!’  
‘Hi boys,’ she grinned twirling her stake in her hand.  
‘You’re here… and okay…’ Nedley breathed.  
‘Yeah… sorry I’ve a bit late Neddles,’ she said standing up. ‘I might have got a little bit kidnapped…’  
‘Kidnapped?’ Nedley blurted out stunned she’d said it such a throwaway manner.  
‘By the coolest people on planet Earth though!’ she exclamined.  
Nedley shook himself, ‘okay… Wynonna… please slow down…’ he removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes preparing himself and processing his relief that his slayer was standing safe in front of him. ‘… start at the beginning…’

Leaning back, Waverly accepted his good bye kiss before gratefully watching Perry walk over the taxi she had insisted he called. He had wanted to make the long walk home, but knowing what was out there, Waverly had used her girlfriend charms to persuade him otherwise. Once he was gone, Waverly put her head in her hands and sat down on the steps leading up to her porch.   
After a few moments, she raised her head slightly, ‘I know you’re there…’  
From around the side of Waverly’s house, Nicole appeared from the shadows, ‘I think you know what I’m going to say too.’  
‘Please don’t… I’m already judging myself enough.’ She looked up at Nicole who was leaning back against one of the corner pillars to the porch of Waverly’s house. ‘Shouldn’t you be out there protecting her if she is in trouble?’  
Nicole smiled, ‘I’m not here to protect the slayer. She can take care of herself.’  
‘She might not… she’s still vulnerable,’ Waverly argued gently.  
‘Not as vulnerable as you…’ Nicole responded.  
Waverly gazed up at the enigmatic woman who had suddenly come into her life, ‘well… I have Perry…’  
To this Nicole looked away her face sullen, ‘yes… I guess you do…’  
Waverly sensed the distaste in Nicole’s voice, ‘this is a lot to deal with you know… all of this. Life was simple… it made sense… and now…’ she stopped and breathed out almost angry into the night air.   
‘What?’ Nicole asked looking back at her.  
‘I don’t know… I don’t know how to feel,’ Waverly said annoyed.  
‘Just feel what is right… what feels right to you,’ Nicole advised lightly. ‘It might be scary, but sometimes scary is good. Means you’re facing something and doing something real.’  
Waverly found herself gazing into Nicole’s eyes again. She certainly was facing something scary and something very real. She could feel it as their eyes met. It was overwhelming and complete bewildering. She wasn’t even sure what she was actually feeling. ‘I think I need to go…’ she said looking away and rising to her feet. ‘Can you do me a favour… and not be here tonight?’ Nicole looked a little shocked at the words. ‘Somehow, I can feel you… when you are… which is weird enough on its own… and I need to think, I need some time to think…’  
Nicole’s expression had changed from disappointed to almost a little content, but she hid this quickly and nodded agreeing to Waverly’s request, ‘of course… I might see if I can locate that slayer, see if she’s okay.’  
‘Thank you.’  
Nicole watched Waverly move towards her door, ‘Waverly…’ she called after her softly. At the door, Waverly turned to look at her, ‘it’ll be okay.’ She received a weak smile in response before the brunette had entered the house and closed the door behind her.   
Nicole remained for a few seconds, lingering on some of Waverly’s words, ‘she can feel me,’ she whispered to herself bringing a smile to her face before turning and melting back into the darkness.

Staring at the screen, Jeremy groaned frustrated, deleting his search and starting again whilst behind him Nedley poured through book after book.  
‘You’re not going to find anything,’ Wynonna laughed as she practised swinging the staff around her head. In front of her a wooden dummy stood in the middle of the library for her to move around. The school long closed after another day, they knew a pupil wouldn’t suddenly enter wondering what scene that had happened upon. ‘I told you, they’re completely off every grid… except theirs.’  
‘But… the internet has everything!’ Jeremy exclaimed. ‘There’s never been anything I haven’t found…’ he then looked a little embarrassed. ‘Trust me…’  
‘I don’t think I want to know,’ Nedley stated not looking up from his book.  
‘They’re government issued soldiers that fight demons… run by this Lucado.’  
‘See that’s the bit that gets me,’ Jeremy said looking round from his laptop. ‘I cannot believe that they are government run… the freaking government knows about demons, vampires and slayers…’  
‘Well… they didn’t really know about me,’ Wynonna corrected him as she practised another move. She flipped, spun, adjusted the staff and brought it down but stopped it from actually hitting the dummy by millimetres. ‘Which I find a little insulting…’  
‘Well once you’ve gotten over your ego Wynonna, these people could actually be of use to us,’ Nedley said getting up from his chair. ‘You said they had state of the art technology and weapons?’ He moved into his office to get his flask and pour another cup of tea.  
‘Yep and some of it was so cool,’ she looked at Jeremy. ‘Honestly, you would love it.’  
‘What are saying? I’m some sort of technology science nerd?’ Jeremy gasped. Wynonna simply raised an eyebrow. Jeremy cleared his throat seeing there was no hiding it. ‘You wouldn’t be wrong… tell me everything.’ He now couldn’t hide his excitement clapping his hands together.  
‘I’ll even draw diagrams, a group lecture…’ she then frowned. ‘Where is Waverly?’  
Nedley and Jeremy exchanged an awkward glance, ‘probably with Perry… and the others,’ Jeremy said returning to his laptop.  
Wynonna looked at Nedley confused, ‘she didn’t come with us,’ he removed his glasses and cleaned them wanting to avoid eye contact. ‘… when I thought you were missing. She chose to stay with Perry.’  
‘Did you tell her you thought I was missing?’ Wynonna asked.  
‘I told her you hadn’t returned to the library at the arranged time after patrol yes,’ Nedley nodded.  
Wynonna tried to process this, ‘she probably didn’t want to look bad in front of Perry…’ she looked down at the staff in her hand. ‘Even though I risked my life for her…’ both Nedley and Jeremy watched Wynonna carefully, aware of what an angry slayer could do. ‘… guess she’s chosen who her friends are going to be then…’ she glared at the dummy near her. ‘… that bitch Mercedes and her precious boyfriend…’ without warning she raised the staff above her head menacingly.  
‘Oh no… not my dummy…’ Nedley muttered under his breath fully aware that there was nothing he could do. In the next moment, the staff had collided with the dummy’s head and ripped it clean off sending it sailing across the room landing on the table only a few inches away from Jeremy was sitting. Clutching his laptop, Jeremy stared at it as its beady eyes stared back. Nedley cleared his throat and took a sip of tea, ‘… note to self… order stronger dummy…’

Leaning against her jeep, Waverly sprang to action the moment she saw Wynonna exit the school in the familiar way, out of one of the back exits. She waved the slayer over as if nothing had happened. However, from Wynonna’s expression as she walked over, Waverly could tell that Wynonna had been made well aware of her decision the previous night.  
‘What are you doing here Waverly?’ Wynonna asked coldly. ‘Won’t your precious friends disapprove?’  
Waverly’s face fell immediately, ‘look I’m sorry about last night… clearly you’re okay…’  
‘What if I wasn’t?’ Wynonna snapped. ‘Yes slayers are supposed to work on their own, but I tried that and it sucked. I need you and Nedley. I didn’t think I would, but I do enjoy having you around. I might have needed you last night.’  
‘This is really hard for me Wynonna…’ Waverly started carefully.  
Wynonna simply laughed to cut her off, ‘oh poor you… you and your social problems… I’m out here every night Waverly trying to save the freaking world.’ She glared at Waverly surprised at how upset she was getting. She hadn’t realised how much she cared about and wanted their friendship. ‘I risked my life for you, when you were being held by Bobo and Willa. I went against my watcher to save you and I nearly died. I expected more from you. I really thought we were becoming good friends…’  
‘We are…’ Waverly protested.  
‘You could have fooled me,’ Wynonna spat. She went to walk away but turned back. ‘You stick with your precious friends but just so you know, I’ll always save you Waverly… because it’s my job… but don’t expect me to be all friendly afterwards.’ She shot Waverly one last glower before spinning round and marching away out of sight. Stunned, Waverly watched her go speechless. She returned to her jeep and slumped against it burying her head into her arms. This prevented her from seeing the new figure approaching her into the parking lot.  
‘Gibson!’ the cry was harsh and angry. Startled, Waverly looked up to see an unimpressed Mercedes standing with her hands on her hips before her. Seeing that the red head was wearing her Purgatory High cheerleading outfit, Waverly already knew why she was in trouble. ‘You better have one good excuse more missing practise.’ Because Waverly knew she had none, she stayed quiet. Upon closer inspection, Mercedes realised that Waverly had been crying. ‘I don’t know what is going on with you. Missing practise, practically ignoring your boyfriend, being seen with Jeremy… again… you are going to have to sort yourself out. Otherwise you are going to find yourself on the wrong end of a very cold shoulder…’ she stepped in so that Waverly could see the sincerity on her face. ‘… and I will make sure it’s everybody. You will feel like you’ve been hit by the social outcast bus and had it back up over you by the time I’ve finished.’ Waverly blinked stunned by the words as Mercedes let her words linger before she turned on her heels and headed over towards her car. With a screech of tyres she too had disappeared into the night.

Half way home, the conflicting feelings within her made it too overwhelming for her to drive. Enraged, Waverly threw open the door and stumbled out onto the curb before slamming her car door shut behind her. Knowing the road was isolated she screamed into the air before she found herself looking around.  
‘Nicole…’ she spoke. ‘I really need you to be here right now…’ After no response, Waverly closed her eyes. ‘Of course… I told you to leave me alone.’ She clapped her hands to her face and groaned into them loudly. ‘Such an idiot Waverly! Now you have no one!’  
‘Did I hear you call for me?’  
Shocked, Waverly looked up to see Nicole standing a little way down the road walking towards her, ‘you were supposed to be leaving me alone,’ Waverly found herself saying without really knowing why.  
‘That was yesterday,’ Nicole laughed. Once again completely in black it was only her vibrant red hair which prevented her from blending in with the darkness around them.  
Waverly nodded so relieved that it had only been yesterday, it was like Nicole knew her too well already. ‘I’ve totally messed up.’ Without meaning to, Waverly found herself completely breaking down.  
Nicole began to move forward, ‘hey… I’m sure it’s not…’  
‘Yes it is…’ Waverly blurted out causing Nicole to stop where she was. ‘Everyone hates me. Wynonna, Mercedes, probably Perry just to complete the set… a few weeks ago I had it all, and now I have all these feelings, new feelings, towards stuff I didn’t even know existed… but its good, it’s exciting and new and I love it. However, if I go for it and get involved in all that stuff, I will lose what I have now and what makes my life easy.’ She looked at Nicole scared. ‘I see how they treat Jeremy, it’s horrible and it kills me. He’ so strong and brave… I’m not Nicole… I’m not.’  
‘Look…’ Nicole took a careful step forward. ‘You are stronger than you think…’  
‘How do you know? I don’t feel it at all.’  
‘I’ve been watching you remember,’ Nicole smiled. ‘I’ve seen you fight vampires; I’ve seen you put your life on the line for Wynonna. You could have run away in the graveyard that other night, but you turned back to help her fight. I’ve also seen you carry on your friendship with Jeremy despite the risks. I told you… you’re special Waverly… it’s about time you started believing it.’ Taking another step, she reached and placed her hands gently on Waverly’s arms. ‘Sometimes the right thing to do, is also the hardest.’  
‘What’s the right thing to do?’ Waverly asked a little distracted by how fast her heart was beating due to the feel of Nicole’s hands upon her for the first time. She could feel the gentle grip of Nicole’s fingers through the material on her arms. It wasn’t strong but it was enough.  
Their eyes were burning into each other as Nicole looked down at Waverly, ‘what do you want to do?’  
‘Find Wynonna,’ Waverly said without hesitation.  
‘Then let’s find her,’ Nicole smiled. She broke their eye contact and pulled Waverly to follow her. Just around the corner of the road, Waverly’s eyes fell upon a beautiful black open top car parked on the grass.  
‘This is your car?’ Waverly gasped. Nicole simply nodded her head in reply as she opened the passenger door for Waverly then ran round to her side to slide gracefully in. ‘Wow,’ Waverly mouthed to herself as she found her eyes wandering to the woman sitting beside her. Skilfully, Nicole backed the car speedily into the road, spun it road then accelerated away into the night.

‘There!’ Waverly cried out as she spotted a small figured being set upon by two bulky demons. Having been to the graveyard and the back roads and alleys of town, in a small place like Purgatory, there was only one more place to look to find where a slayer would be patrolling. Waverly watched as Wynonna successfully threw one of the white fanged demons on top of a dumpster before being sent flying by the other. ‘Oh Jesus!’ Before Nicole could stop her she had jumped out of the car and was tearing her way across the industrial yard. As she entered the alley, Waverly picked up a discarded metal pole and carried it with her ready to use as a weapon.  
As Wynonna tackled the other, the demon that had been thrown on top of the dumpster had regathered itself and was getting up on top of the dumpster. Before it could get to its feet completely, Waverly brought the metal pole down on its head. Growling unimpressed and dazed, the beast fell down onto its side again holding its head. Pleased, Waverly brought the pole back again and meant it to connect with the creature’s head again, but the demon was too quick and grabbed the pole. He tore it out of Waverly’s hands and threw it to one side sending it skidding away down the alley. Springing back to its feet, it stood up on top of the dumpster looming over a helpless Waverly.  
‘Oh crap…’ Then, just as the demon was about to jump down off the dumpster, Waverly found herself surrounded by soldiers which ushered her away pointing their weapons up to keep the beast at bay. The demon snarled annoyed but then remembered Wynonna who was still in an intense confrontation with the other as they exchanged blows. ‘What the hell? Who are you people?’  
‘Just stay back please,’ one said through his balaclava once he had got her to safety. Back out in the yard, Waverly saw what she hadn’t seen on the way in. All around the alley there were soldiers hidden in the shadows, around the alley and on top of buildings. Every single one of them watching everything that was unfolding in the alley between Wynonna and demons.  
‘Aren’t you going to help her?’ Waverly demanded desperate to get back to help Wynonna. They ignored her, their attention completely on the slayer. Stranded, Waverly could only watch as Wynonna continued to struggle against her two foes. Stood so much taller and stronger, it appeared that her kicks and punches were having no effect on them. The only thing she was able to use was her agility and speed. Slow and clumsy creatures, Wynonna was continuously able to out manoeuvre them and avoid most of their attempts to strike her. When their fists did connect, it was hard and Wynonna felt it. She had blood spilling from a cut on her lip already.  
Then, Waverly watched as Wynonna seemed to put a finger to ear as though she was listening to something. After the briefest of pauses, she nodded and looked back at the demons advancing again. She leapt and grabbed one of them by the head. Using her speed she moved her feet up the wall and flipped over keeping hold of the demon’s head. As she flipped she jerked the demon’s head backwards causing the neck to break easily. A loud sickening snap filled the alley followed by the sound of a dead weight hitting the floor. Wynonna landed gracefully and looked sound satisfied at her kill. Her eyes then moved up again to the other demon who looked furious. With a snarl through his numerous long fangs he moved at the slayer once again, but she was ready. She waited for the right moment, then spun and sent a high kick flying into its neck. Hitting the right spot the bone inside snapped just like its companion’s and the second demon fell to the floor with another loud thud. Silence finally fell over the alleyway as Wynonna caught her breath. She turned towards the entrance of the alley listening to something in her hear. She grinned as she heard the words spoken to her before her eyes fell upon Waverly. As Wynonna made her way out of the alley, all the soldiers that had been there previously had slipped away into the night leaving only the two girls standing alone in the yard.  
Waverly adjusted her weight nervously as Wynonna approached. The slayer stopped and stared at the other girl for a few moments, clearly unsure what to say, ‘was that you? Helping me?’  
Waverly nodded nervously, ‘yes… but clearly you had help… I think….’ She frowned looking around for them, surprised how quickly they had disappeared. ‘Who were they?’  
‘If you’d been around when I needed you, you would know,’ Wynonna replied sharply.  
Waverly felt it and it hurt, ‘I came to help…’  
‘A little late… I didn’t need you tonight…’ Wynonna said before walking past Waverly and across the empty yard. Waverly turned after her and wanted to say something to call her back but she couldn’t think of anything to say. Instead she could only watch Wynonna walk away from her again.   
Behind her, Waverly felt the presence she was coming to know well, ‘what do I do now Nicole?’  
‘You keep trying, don’t give up…’  
Despondently, Waverly turned to look up into comforting eyes, ‘I came to help… I thought she would see that I’m here for her.’  
‘Maybe she needs other people to see it?’ Nicole suggested. ‘Here it’s still just between you and her.’  
Waverly nodded understanding, then frowned, ‘and those army guys… did you see those army guys?’  
‘I did,’ Nicole nodded also. ‘Never seen them before…’ She looked around for them, wondering if they were lurking in the shadows suddenly a little on edge.  
‘Take me home?’ Waverly asked also a little nervous.  
‘Of course…’ Nicole placed a protective hand on Waverly’s back and led her to the car glancing around the whole time. She was relieved when Waverly was safely in the passenger seat and she was able to drive away and get them both to safety. As they sped away, Waverly thought over what Nicole had said and was already sensing what it was she would have to do the next day. Although she wanted to keep her thoughts focused on reconnecting with Wynonna, she couldn’t help but glance sideways as Nicole slickly took the car around another corner and out of town. At the sight of the night air flowing through her long red hair, Waverly found herself completely captivated by Nicole. Along with ensuring her friendship with Wynonna was restored, there was something else she suddenly found herself wanting to do. At the very thought of it, Waverly snapped her head forward so that she was staring straight ahead. It was a thought that completely bewildered her. They were thoughts she’d only ever had for men and for Perry. Waverly shook herself a little overwhelmed by the confusing feelings. She couldn’t deal with them now. One thing at a time she told herself.

‘Very impressive,’ Lucado declared as Wynonna strutted over to her.  
‘Why thank you…’ Wynonna grinned.  
‘I think this is something that will work quite nicely,’ Lucado went on.  
‘Yes,’ Wynonna agreed. ‘Thank you for the info on the weak neck thing… I was really struggling there…’  
‘Exactly, we find out the intelligence needed to defeat these demons and you use your powers to defeat them. Usually we like to bring them in still living so we can study them, learn from them, but with those Garlocks, there was only one outcome.’  
‘Me getting them dead,’ Wynonna stated proudly.  
Lucado allowed herself to chuckle, ‘indeed.’ She looked next to her and nodded at one of her soldiers. ‘This is Agent Dolls.’ The man stepped forward hands behind his back fully to attention. He barely acknowledged Wynonna. ‘He will do a proper debrief with you. At ease soldier.’ He relaxed his shoulders and was now able to make eye contact with his commander. ‘I want all details on tonight’s fight recorded for analysis.’  
‘Yes ma’am,’ he bowed slightly out of respect as she turned and moved back towards the command centre.  
‘Please follow me,’ Dolls instructed Wynonna.  
Wynonna did so, ‘so how much detail do you need? All I can think of is I fought them, I snapped their necks, they got dead, I didn’t, we win.’  
Dolls chuckled reservedly, ‘a little more detail than that…’  
‘Oh man,’ Wynonna sighed. ‘Is this like homework for the army?’ Dolls didn’t reply as he entered a code into a panel by a door. ‘I’m already behind on so much homework…’ Wynonna continued as the door swung open so she followed him into one of the debriefing rooms. Out of sight of Wynonna, Dolls allowed himself to smile, he liked this girl.

The sun spilled in through the large windows as Waverly weaved her way through the tables and chairs in the dining hall. Clutching her folder to her chest she saw immediately the choice she would have to make and all morning she had been preparing for this moment. To her left sat Mercedes, Perry and the others that was expected to sit with. This group was large, imposing and the most powerful in the school. It was the safest option, one that would secure her position in the cheerleading squad, something which she loved. To her right sat Wynonna and Jeremy deep in conversation. This group was small and vulnerable. This choice would mean she would lose everything: social security, the easy life, cheerleading, her own status at school as someone not to cross and maybe even Perry. For many years they had been seen as the golden couple, the one to aspire to. Just another way that meant the students at school looked up to her and didn’t cause her any trouble.  
Standing alone with the choice before her, Waverly could feel the anxiety inside her rising with her heart rate. However, in truth, she had already made up her mind. The hard part… was carrying it out. She closed her eyes for a moment and heard a soft, kind voice in her head, sometimes the right thing to do, is also the hardest. She had to do what was right. What her heart wanted… not what society expected. With a long deep breath, Waverly turned right through the chairs and took a seat next to Wynonna at the table. Her hands trembling she placed her folder down and looked into the eyes of an astonished Wynonna. With another apologetic expression, Waverly smiled at her. Looking over Waverly’s shoulder at the horrified faces of the table just across the hall, Wynonna realised the huge gesture that Waverly had just made. Seeing that Waverly’s hands were shaking, Wynonna brought her hand to Waverly’s arm and gripped it comfortingly stroking it with her thumb. Waverly let out a sigh of relief at the look of forgiveness Wynonna was giving her and began to shake a little less. She brought her opposite hand to Wynonna’s a gripped it needing the reassurance. Beside the slayer, Jeremy was also smiling at Waverly proud of her decision and of her bravery. There was no question on their faces now, all was forgiven. They were friends once more.   
Still Waverly needed a distraction, ‘so… tell me about these army guys?’  
‘Oh my god!’ Wynonna cried absolutely thrilled. As Wynonna proceeded to fill Waverly in with every detail about The Initiative with Jeremy’s frequent input, Waverly knew she had made the right choice. Unlike when listening to Mercedes prattle on, she was so interested in everything both of them had to say. Instead of the dull and dismal topics often chosen by the people sitting behind her, this was exciting and actually meant something. Soon, although she knew she would feel the ramifications of her decision before long, Waverly forgot the group behind her and was already looking forward to her new start.


	5. Never Kill Someone On A First Date

 

Glaring at the screen, Waverly desperately wanted her homework to disappear. She had written two lines of the English essay that was due in that week. School hadn’t exactly been the easiest place since her decision in the canteen. Just as Mercedes had promised, she had begun to receive the same treatment Jeremy had been subjected to for years. However, unlike Jeremy for such a long time, Waverly did have friends to help her deal with it and now; she could openly stand up for Jeremy. She just wished she could ask Wynonna to release her slaying power on the lot of them. However, knowing full well this couldn’t happen, it was going to have to be a battle she would have to get used to.

The only one Waverly felt sorry for was Perry. She hadn’t technically broken up with him because she still didn’t know whether she really wanted to. Although not who she truly wanted, he was safe, kind and the one thing she could hold onto of her previous life. The one thing in it that was normal. They hadn’t spoken properly in days, but he also hadn’t joined in with any of the taunting or mistreatment by any of the others. Other than a certain other, he had been the thing occupying her thoughts as she struggled with what to do.

Suddenly a noise at the window made Waverly almost jump out of her skin. She managed to clasp onto her laptop just time before it flew off her lap and onto the floor. Catching her breath she looked over at the window where Nicole had tapped lightly to get her attention. Waverly shot her a bothered glare before carefully placing her laptop to one side and walking over. She kept the window shut for a moment as she glared at the woman outside who started to look a little apologetic. Waverly couldn’t remain angry for a long and reached forward to pull the window up.

‘Can’t you just knock at the door like normal people?’ Waverly asked crossing her arms.

‘That would take all the fun out of it,’ Nicole grinned.

‘How did you get up here?’ Waverly asked peering out. Nicole was sitting with ease on the sloping roof leaning against the window frame. With her bedroom at the back of the house and with only fields behind, Nicole’s presence was completely hidden from any prying eyes.

‘I’m a good climber….’

Despite Nicole’s relaxed position, to Waverly she still looked awkward where she was, ‘well… you can come in… if you want to?’ she stood aside gesturing that it was okay for Nicole to enter her room.

A little surprised, Nicole paused making sure she had heard the question right before she adjusted herself so she could slide easily into Waverly’s room. She remained by the window and looked around for a few moments before her attention settled on Waverly who was watching her intently. Waverly looked away a little embarrassed when Nicole caught her. Nicole laughed to herself. ‘How are you?’ she asked softly.

‘I’ve been better…’ Waverly admitted.

‘You know you made the right decision.’

Waverly nodded but it wasn’t convincing, ‘it just feels pretty brutal right now.’ Her eyes fell on one of her cheerleading photos. As she had full expected, Mercedes had kicked her out of the squad and her positioned already filled by another eagerly waiting hopeful. Despite its reputation for being filled with shallow minds only after attention, Waverly had genuinely loved being part of cheerleading squad as she had always enjoyed dancing and performing. She’d always relished being part of a team that could accomplish something if they worked together. Now she was just telling herself she was part of a better team, a team that was really making a difference.

‘Well how about I try and distract you?’ Nicole suggested.

‘Distract me?’ Waverly felt her stomach lurch with excitement. She tried to hide the bewilderment it caused.

‘How about a drink or some pool at Shorty’s?’

Waverly felt a playful smirk come over her, ‘at Shorty’s?’ she asked. ‘Are you asking me out on a…?’

‘No… no… of course not,’ Nicole said quickly. ‘I mean… you have a…’

‘Yes I do…’ Waverly agreed. ‘I think…’

‘You think?’ Nicole frowned.

‘Well… we haven’t actually spoken since…’ she paused not wanting to say it again.

‘So you might not have a…’

‘I don’t know… I mean I’m not sure…’

Nicole couldn’t help but giggle, ‘you’re not sure whether you have a boyfriend?’

Waverly knew it sounded strange, ‘I guess I need to figure that one out…’

‘Might be a good idea yes…’

‘But if you did want to still… you know… go to Shorty’s…’ Waverly continued nervously. ‘We could go, as friends?’

‘As friends?’ Nicole repeated entertained. ‘I told you Waverly, I don’t want to be your friend…’

The lightness of Nicole’s tone allowed Waverly to hear the humour in it, ‘it’s all I can manage right now…’ she said quietly.

‘Then it’s all I will ask of you,’ Nicole assured Waverly, her soft voice causing Waverly’s heart to flutter again. She loved the way Nicole spoke. It was so soothing.

Waverly allowed herself to gaze into Nicole’s eyes for a few moments, before looking away aware of the mixed messages it gave, ‘okay… give me a little time and I’ll get ready…’ she turned away from Nicole and went to pull her top over her head. She stopped aware of Nicole’s presence. ‘Do you mind just…?’ Looking over her shoulder she saw that Nicole had already courteously exited the room and was sitting on the edge of the roof looking out into the night. Waverly took the chance to study Nicole a little her eyes admiring the beauty of Nicole’s silky red hair, the shape of her slender back and the respectful gesture she had made.

 

Grinning with pride, Wynonna led another demon over to the soldiers who waited for her under the cover of the trees. Still dazed and confused from the last blow to the head the slayer had brought down on it, the demon was unable to prevent its arms being clamped in thick cuffs.

‘Good job slayer,’ one of the soldiers said as he and another took control of the beast and led it to a waiting army vehicle fully equipped to contain creatures such as itself. Over by the bushes, the rest of the soldiers began to stand down and disassemble their weapons.

‘She’s taking all the fun out of our job man,’ Allenbach grumbled as he knelt down next to Dolls. ‘Instead of fighting these things ourselves, now we’re just playing babysitter to the slayer.’

Dolls chuckled as it broke down his gun, ‘it’s a phase… Lucado will get over it soon. There are so many things out there that we have to fight, we’ll have our time again soon.’

Ewan leaned back and studied his friend, ‘you’re into her aren’t you?’ he smirked. Ewan expected a defensive reply, but it didn’t come. Instead, Dolls almost returned the smirk as he glanced up from his gun to where Wynonna was stood talking to one of the other soldiers. ‘Is she single?’

‘She’s seventeen,’ Dolls said a little glumly.

‘So?’ Ewan shrugged. ‘A difference of six years isn’t much…’

Dolls appreciated the comment but he returned his eyes to his gun as he packed it away in the waiting bag, ‘I don’t know man…’ he sighed as he got to his feet. ‘She’s the slayer; I’m just normal Joe in an army uniform…’

‘Okay, you and I both know that you are not a normal Joe…’ He stopped his sentence quickly when he saw the look of annoyance on Dolls’ face. ‘Look, just go and talk to her… she looks like she needs rescuing from Hardy anyway…’

‘Oh Jesus, she’s talking to Hardy?’ Dolls thrust his gun pack in Ewan’s direction and made his way quickly to where it looked like Wynonna wanted to be anywhere else than talking to the man she was stuck with. He was making terrible attempts at jokes, mostly showing how completely immature he was. ‘Hardy… mate…’ Dolls said placing his hand on the young blonde soldier’s shoulder firmly. ‘… spare this poor woman and go and help them pack the kit up over there… far over there.’ Hardy went to speak, but wide imposing eyes from Dolls stopped him. With a brief glance at Wynonna, who hid her laughter amused, Hardy turned on his heels and left. ‘I am so sorry about that…’

‘You did take your time rescuing me,’ Wynonna agreed.

‘Well as a slayer, I would have thought you could handle anything?’ Dolls joked back.

Wynonna looked over Dolls’ shoulder at where Hardy was now hard at work lifting gear onto the trucks, ‘there are some things the Watcher’s Council cannot prepare you for.’

At this Dolls dropped his head as he laughed, ‘well I’m happy to say that we’re not all idiots like him…’ he looked back up nervously. ‘… some of us are actually okay…’

Wynonna met his eyes. Dark and expressive, she was enticed by them, ‘How can I be sure?’

Dolls realised this was his moment, he cleared his throat gently, ‘how about I take you out?’ He noticed Wynonna’s look of surprise immediately. ‘I mean, just for coffee? Or dinner… I mean…’ he coughed. ‘Whatever you’d feel comfortable with.’

The slayer studied the flustered man curiously, it was endearing, ‘how about patrol?’

‘Well… that’s a new one.’

Wynonna chuckled at his response, ‘well, I have to do it and something tells me you enjoy it… so how about tomorrow night, we take it on together?’

Inside, Dolls was doing everything he could to hide his delight, ‘sounds like a date…’ he declared.

‘Indeed it is,’ Wynonna agreed almost as amazed as he was. Flashing him a flirtatious smile, she walked passed him knowing her business for the night was done. Under the watchful eye of the Initiative, she had dusted four vampires, killed two demons but managed to capture three. Wherever the creatures of the underworld lurked, the Initiative seemed to be able to find them.

 

Apprehensively, Waverly glanced over at the band playing on the stage at one end of Shorty’s. It was a quiet night, with those watching the band either sitting at tables or dancing slowly in the space in front of the stage. She was enjoying the eclectic sounds that were coming from the four piece band with a female lead singer. She had already taken stock of the faces and was relieved so see that she recognised very few of them and none of them belonged to the group she was doing all she could to avoid. It was an older crowd in that evening and Waverly was happy to merge with pretence into them.

Waverly’s view to the band was blocked by a welcome figure as Nicole placed their drinks carefully down on the table. Waverly couldn’t help but snigger at the sight of her coke in a red and white plastic cup against Nicole’s whiskey in a proper glass. She reached forward and brought her drink closer almost a little embarrassed. She hadn’t realised there was such an age gape between them. She guessed she should have figured it out with the way Nicole behaved, held herself and how wise she was.

Once seated, Nicole noticed Waverly’s gaze flitting between their drinks, ‘I did ask for a normal glass…’ she assured her. ‘Something about no exceptions…’

‘It’s okay,’ Waverly smiled. ‘I’m used to it… a proper glass would feel funny.’

Nicole laughed as Waverly happily swigged her drink. She let the moment linger for a moment, before staring into her own glass as she held it with both hands. ‘So where does Perry think you are tonight?’

Waverly coughed on her drink a little, surprised by the question, ‘oh… studying… which was true, until you turned up.’

‘Well, I can only apologise.’ Waverly narrowed her eyes showing her disbelief at the statement. ‘I just had to see you… check that you were okay.’

‘It’s hard… but I am. I don’t want to talk about that tonight though.’

‘Oh… what do you want to talk about?’ Nicole asked taking a sip of her drink.

The motion reminded Waverly of what she wanted to know, ‘I want to know about you…’ Waverly said holding Nicole’s gaze. ‘I don’t know anything about you. Who you are? What you do? Even, how old you are?’

Nicole suddenly looked a little uncomfortable, ‘oh wow, that’s a lot of things to know…’

Sensing her discomfort, Waverly changed her approach, ‘well… how about how old you are? That’s an easy one.’

There was a pause before Nicole seemed to settle on an answer, ‘I’m twenty four.’

‘Okay good, now I know something,’ Waverly smiled sweetly trying to ignore the age gap between them.

‘Does it bother you?’ Nicole asked worried.

‘Does what bother me?’

Nicole’s eyes burned into Waverly’s, ‘the age gap?’

Waverly stared back, the room around them melting away, ‘no… I mean, why would it bother me?’ she spoke slower as she lost her train of thought in Nicole’s eyes. ‘We’re… just… friends…’

Amused at Waverly’s continued insistence of this fact, Nicole allowed a flirtatious smirk to creep onto her face, ‘of course… just friends… just like this isn’t a da…’

She couldn’t finish her sentence as an unwelcome pair of hands found Waverly’s back, ‘Waverly?’ At his voice, Waverly looked at Nicole for help before turning to face Perry. ‘I thought you were studying this evening…’ He looked between the two women questioningly. Irritated by his untimely entrance, Nicole looked down into her drink resisting the urge to punch him through the ceiling and out of the evening she had been greatly enjoying.

‘I was…’ Waverly panicked. ‘But, I needed break and well Nicole was here so…’

The confusion melted from Perry’s face quickly as it became relief, ‘well, I’m so glad you’re here because we really need to talk…’

Waverly glanced at Nicole, ‘can it wait? I’m in the middle of…’

‘No it can’t…’ Perry insisted. He looked at Nicole who was doing her best to hide her irritation. ‘I’m sorry, but I really need to talk to my girlfriend, if that’s okay?’

‘Perry!’ Waverly said through gritted teeth. ‘I’m not your anything… and you cannot just come in and…’

‘Hey Waverly,’ Nicole interrupted softly getting up from her seat. ‘It’s okay… clearly you guys have stuff to talk about so…’

Frustrated Waverly kept her eyes on Nicole as she began to move away from the table, ‘no Nicole… I…’

‘Seriously Waverly… it’s okay,’ she held Waverly’s gaze for a moment before making her way through the thin crowd and out of the bar. Waverly watched her go the entire way before turning her attention back to Perry who had taken Nicole’s seat and was now finishing off her drink. Suddenly, Waverly was not enjoying the music, the atmosphere and now very much wanted to be back home studying or running out of the door after Nicole.

 

‘He asked you out?’ Waverly blurted out thrilled as she, Wynonna and Jeremy sat gathered in the library.

‘Yep… he was pretty adorable about it as well…’ Wynonna grinned.

‘Get you girl,’ Jeremy smiled. ‘Bagging yourself an army man.’ He then looked thoughtful. ‘Do you think there are any that might swing my way?’

Both Waverly and Wynonna laughed kindly at him, ‘I’ll certainly keep my eye out Chetri.’

‘So, where’s he taking you?’ Waverly asked excitedly. ‘To dinner, or a show… or to the cinema? You can cuddle at the back and then have that hand graze when you reach in for some popcorn at the same time…’

‘He’s taking me patrolling.’ Wynonna stated.

Both Waverly and Jeremy’s faces fell instantly, ‘patrolling?’ they said in unison.

‘It was my suggestion,’ Wynonna shrugged. ‘Figured it’s something we’ve got in common.’

‘That’s true,’ Jeremy agreed.

‘Well just don’t die… that would really ruin the mood,’ Waverly warned her.

Laughing, Wynonna pushed herself off the table she was sitting on and began to do some stretches ready for her morning training session with Nedley, ‘I’ll try not to… or get him killed, that would really be the worst first date ever…’

‘Nope, can beat you on that one… since a giant spider nearly tried to mate with me,’ Jeremy reminded them. Waverly and Wynonna exchanged tickled glances. ‘Now that really was the worst.’

‘How about you Waves?’ Wynonna asked as she worked on her legs.

‘What about me?’

‘You and Perry? How are things?’ She began to bend from side to side to stretch her back.

Waverly’s first thought was to tell them about the night before, but considering neither of them knew of her liaisons with Nicole, she had to think round it quickly, ‘they’re strained… is the best way to put it.’

‘Isn’t he still hanging out with Mercedes?’ Jeremy asked. To this Waverly nodded. ‘Surely… the best thing would be to…’

‘I know what would be the easy thing to do,’ Waverly snapped. ‘But you can’t always do the easy thing, because then life gets complicated and it goes in directions you really weren’t expecting with people you really weren’t expecting and you feel things you really really weren’t expecting. But people always expect things of you, expectation all the time and soon due to all the mess from the expectation you’re really not sure what you are expected to do…’ She took a deep breath. ‘You know?’ She looked up to see Wynonna and Jeremy just staring at her perplexed. A little embarrassed at her outburst, Waverly collected her bag. ‘I have to go…’ She slung her bag over her shoulder and made a quick exit out of the door.

‘Er… what was that?’ Jeremy asked Wynonna who shrugged as lost as he was.

 

As night fell over Purgatory once again, deep in the heart of the countryside that surrounded the town a cave sat hidden away in a valley. Within the cave, a solitary figure stood over a fire reading from a large old brown book he held in his hands. His face obscured by a large black cloak with a hood thrown over his head, he waved his hand over the flames as he chanted words in Latin. From his pocket he took out a herb, crushed it in his hand then sprinkled it into the writhing fire. As soon as he did so a strange silver mist rose from the flames and began to fill the cage. The figure snapped the book shut and backed away until his back hit the cave wall. It watched as the mist danced and jerked as if a creature before seeing its path to freedom. In one swift motion it flew out of the cave and nearby trees before heading straight towards town.

 

Quietly, Dolls walked beside Wynonna as they made their way through the graveyard. It was a calm night with a little cloud cover and a light breeze but still the same strange foreboding lingered over their chosen location of their first date. Every newly dug grave had the potential for an unwelcome guest in their evening. Still Dolls was determined to give the night as much of that special feel as he could.

‘I brought you something,’ he said. He stopped walking causing Wynonna to do so as well turning back to face him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a neatly carved stake with a proper handle. In surprise, she took it and admired its glossy finish and leather handle which would allow her more grip. ‘It’s one of our special models, unused. I made sure of that.’

‘Your stakes have leather handles?’ Wynonna asked entertained. ‘Kinky…’

Dolls chuckled, ‘to allow for better grip… and stop splinters. You know how men can’t deal with splinters.’

‘Well… thank you, it’s… thoughtful,’ Wynonna said holding it how she would use it and gave it a few test jabs.

‘Hopefully you can see off a few of those vamps this evening… if they decide to interrupt us…’

‘Interrupt us?’ Wynonna asked. Dolls flashed a slightly mischievous smile before taking her hand and leading her into the graveyard a little further. After passing a few rows of grave stones Wynonna’s eyes fell upon a sight she was not expecting. In the middle of another row lay a blanket with a bunch of flowers and bottle of wine with two glasses. ‘What…?’

‘I couldn’t let our first date just be patrolling…’ he told her. ‘I’m a better man than that… or at least, I like to think so…’ Wynonna looked at him impressed before they moved forward towards the blanket.

 

Above the town, the mist that had escaped the cave was beginning to dart and move between the buildings seemingly gaining in strength. With every building and house it visited it appeared to get bigger and began to splitting up to cover more ground. With the appearance of a wisp of steam or a low lying cloud, to all below it went completely unnoticed as they carried on with their evenings. This allowed the mist to continue its prowl of the street and move towards the graveyard and fields beyond the town that it had not yet visited.

 

Lying back, Waverly looked up at the stars she could see between the clouds. She felt Nicole pause before she too lay back. Due to the length of the hood of Nicole’s car, they were able to stretch out comfortably and gaze up at the night sky. Waverly was finding solace in it as well as in Nicole’s presence. However, it was this solace that she was finding the most confusing of all.

‘It’s so beautiful…’ she whispered her hands resting on her stomach as she tried to keep her breathing calm.

‘I know…’ Nicole agreed lying in a similar position. She glanced over at Waverly briefly without moving her head as she felt it might have been too much if noticed. ‘And amazing to think that most of the stars we’re looking at have probably expired…’

‘It’s amazing. Kinda makes you think, that sometimes the things that we think we know, or think we see, aren’t real.’

Nicole frowned at this comment and braved the question she was dying to answer, ‘Waverly… why did you want to see me?’

There was a long pause, agony to Nicole. ‘I don’t know…’ Waverly admitted. She groaned and sat up covering her face with her hands. ‘I don’t know what I’m feeling at the moment. Everything is so confusing.’

Nicole could feel the anticipation rising inside of her, sat up so she could look at Waverly properly. ‘Look… you clearly have a lot going on at the moment; the decision you just made about your friends wasn’t easy… you don’t have to make any…’

‘I like you…’ Waverly blurted out. She stared ahead frozen; completely shocked that she had said it out loud in that manner. This quickly became due to the silence that greeted her. Slowly, she looked round to see Nicole’s eyes gazing at her, kind and just as shocked.

‘You like me?’ Nicole repeated hardly daring to believe it.

Their eyes fixed, there was a hint of a smile, ‘I do… but it terrifies me.’

Nicole pondered this question, puzzled by it. ‘Do I scare you?’ she asked gently.

‘Yes… yes you do. But it’s not the age thing or the mysterious stranger that I don’t really know anything about thing… it’s…’ she paused unsure how to phrase it.

‘The woman thing…’ Nicole finished.

Waverly considered Nicole for a moment, her eyes drifting over Nicole’s gentle features, her eyes, her nose, her lips, admiring it all, ‘I’ve lived my whole life doing what’s expected of me. It never came from Gus, but at school, you’re expected to be in the cheerleading squad, expected to hang out with Mercedes, if you are privileged enough, and expected to date the cute popular boy…’ She hesitated for a moment trying to read what Nicole was making of her words. The tender look that was being returned reassured her to go on. ‘… You’re not any of those things.’ With a timid hand, she reached up stroked her hand down the side of Nicole’s face following her hair. ‘I think that’s what scares me… you’re so… different…’

‘Good different?’ Nicole asked her senses heightened at the simple touch of Waverly’s fingers so near her face.

A little laugh escaped Waverly’s lips, ‘that’s just it… I don’t know… I don’t know how to do this.’

‘Just do what you want to do,’ Nicole assured her keeping her hands on the car bonnet. She continued to watch as Waverly continued to use her fingers to gently trace the line of Nicole’s hair around her face. The night became still around them as Waverly was able to take in Nicole completely her heart racing inside her chest. She knew what she wanted to do, but she was still terrified to do it.

Yet something inside her was urging her on. She moved her hand from Nicole’s hair to her face and immediately noted how cold Nicole’s skin was to the touch as she stroked her cheek. Letting Waverly lead, Nicole kept her hands down allowing Waverly to set the pace. Waverly quickly forgot the temperature of Nicole’s skin and was instead relishing its smooth silky feel against her fingers.

‘You’re so soft…’ Waverly whispered. Nicole could only smile in response. As the brunette had moved in a little closer, her lips were so tantalizingly close, with all her might Nicole restrained herself and held back. Her hand so desperately wanted to creep forward and touch Waverly’s leg, but she kept it pressed against the cold metal beneath her palm. Soon, Waverly’s hands left Nicole’s face and began to trace down the sides of Nicole’s neck following its slender shape. Waverly’s eyes simultaneously stayed with her hands as they rested on Nicole’s shoulders before moving down with the collar and line of Nicole’s leather coat. As her hands brushed over Nicole’s chest, they stopped and she frowned confused. ‘I can’t feel…’ she pressed her hand down a little harder. ‘I can’t feel a…’ she looked back up at Nicole. ‘Where’s your heartbeat?’

Unable to hold back and desperate to divert Waverly’s thoughts, it was Nicole’s turn to place her hands on Waverly’s face softly and pull her into a strong but tender kiss. The feel of Nicole’s soft lips against her own succeeded in instantly taking Waverly’s mind off her discovery. For days she had wondered what it would feel like and it was everything she had hoped for and more. Nicole’s hands moved to Waverly’s waist allowing Waverly’s to return to Nicole’s hair so she could lose her fingers within it. All Waverly’s worries and doubts faded as she melted into gentle arms.

 

Glancing sideways flirtatiously, Wynonna watched Dolls as he refilled the slayer’s glass. He would have met the gaze but he wanted to remain smooth in his pouring of the wine. He waited to place the bottle down carefully and pick up his own before he turned to face her.

‘Here’s to you… getting the slayer drunk,’ Wynonna joked clinking their glasses together.

‘Here’s to you being a lightweight… if it only takes two glasses,’ Dolls teased back.

Wynonna rolled her eyes and took a sip, ‘so how long have you had this planned?’

‘Honestly?’ he asked. ‘This part since this morning, but I’ve wanted to ask you out since we trapped you in the net.’

‘You liked the look of me as prey did you?’ Wynonna laughed.

Dolls laughed a little embarrassed, ‘you just looked so helpless… it was very attractive…’

‘I hope you’re joking Agent Dolls,’ Wynonna said looking a little wary.

‘Of course I am…’ he assured her. ‘It was more the attitude you gave us afterwards… I like a woman who can handle herself…’

Their eyes lingered for a moment before Wynonna looked away coyly, ‘so how long have you been in the Initiative?’

Unknown to them, the mist released from the cave entered the graveyard and began to swirl and dance above them. Silent and almost invisible, it seemed to be waiting for its moment.

‘Since I was eighteen,’ Dolls replied. ‘I always knew I was going to be an army man. I didn’t know that this would be the kind of fighting I would be doing though… monsters and demons and vampires…’

‘Oh my,’ Wynonna grinned.

Chuckling Dolls shook his head enjoying her sense of humour, ‘exactly…’ his smile slowly disappeared as he became fixed upon her. ‘…oh my…’ Wynonna found herself staring back loving the sound of his laugh and the shape of his smile. Carefully, Dolls shifted his position so he could move closer to the slayer. Wanting him to do so, Wynonna didn’t move waiting for him to reach her. Dolls’ eyes flitted between Wynonna’s lips and her eyes checking that she was happy for him to continue leaning in.

‘Oh crap!’ Wynonna’s sudden cry caused Dolls to recoil back. Looking down he saw that being too wrapped up in her, he had accidentally knocked his wine glass over onto her leg.

‘Oh man… I’m so sorry… ‘ he looked around for something he could use as a cloth. As he did so, he looked away from Wynonna and the mist above them took its chance. In a flash a piece broke off the cloud and shot down to enter Dolls through his mouth as it opened for a split second. Dolls felt it instantly. He coughed silently for a moment placing his hand to his neck as he felt it go down.

Behind him Wynonna noticed his struggle, ‘Dolls?’

Unable to reply, Dolls continued to clutch at his neck as if unable to breathe. Then suddenly he was still. Leaning forward on both hands he stared ahead of him into the graveyard as though his mind had forgotten what he was doing or why he was there. However, this was because he was terrified. He could feel what was coming.

‘Oh god…’ he muttered desperately. ‘No… not here… not now…’ He began to crease up in pain.

‘Dolls? You okay?’ Wynonna asked again starting to move towards him.

‘No… please no…’ he hunched his back trying to fight what was rising inside him.

‘Hey…’ Wynonna reached out and gently touched his shoulder.

Straight away, Dolls turned and the sight of him sent Wynonna reeling back. His eyes and forehead glowing like fire, he growled through his teeth. Mortified, she lay on the ground staring at the thing crouched before her. Dolls was able to fight it for just a second more, ‘…run!’

 

Supporting her back, Nicole gently lay Waverly down on the car as their lips continued to explore each other’s tenderly. She loved the feel of Waverly’s hands cupping and caressing her face as she kept hers to Waverly’s back and side, the other wrapped around Waverly’s back to ensure her comfort. She had longed for this the moment she saw Waverly for the first time from the shadows. As their kisses became more fervent, Nicole pulled away unsure.

‘You okay?’ she asked a little breathless.

‘Yeah,’ Waverly breathed out. ‘Are you?’

Nicole beamed, ‘I’m more than okay… I just… this is new… for you, so I wanted to…’

Touched, Waverly reached up to trace her finger over Nicole’s check again, ‘Nicole… I’m more than okay…’ Her mind at ease, Nicole leant down again to reconnect their lips. Their attention only on each other, neither of them noticed the mist arrive above them. Once more, it swirled and twisted in the air, waiting patiently.

Overcome for a moment, Nicole paused their kisses to catch her breath. She took the opportunity to admire Waverly’s beauty as she lay below her. Waverly opened her eyes to see what was wrong, but the adoring gaze that greeted her subdued her worries straight away. The two smiled at each other for a few moments before Nicole leant down again signalling another kiss. Waverly closed her eyes waiting for the blissful caress, but as Nicole parted her lips slightly to give it, the mist snatched its chance. Darting around Waverly, it flew into the small gap between Nicole’s lips causing her to lurch back and fall off the hood of the car.

Hearing the loud thud of Nicole’s body hitting the ground, Waverly sat bolt upright. ‘Nicole?’ she watched as Nicole got herself back up onto her feet. ‘You okay?’ With her back to Waverly, Nicole grimaced at the pain burning within her chest. She doubled over placing her hands on her knees for balance. Remaining on the car, anxiety rose within Waverly, wondering if it was something she had done to cause such a reaction. She could hear Nicole’s wheezing as if in agony. ‘Nicole, what’s wrong?’

Not in view of Waverly, a pained expression crept over Nicole as she continued to grip her chest and fight what she could feel rising from inside. She knew what she had to do and she knew how Waverly would take it. ‘Waverly… get out of here!’ Continuing to fight with everything she had, Nicole fell to her knees.

‘What?’ Waverly asked bewildered.

‘Please… you have to get out of here!’ she cried frantically. ‘Something’s wrong… I don’t want to hurt you!’ She covered her face with her hands as she could feel it changing.

Leaping off the car, Waverly began to make her way over, ‘what’s wrong? Maybe I can help.’

‘Waverly please…’ Nicole begged still not daring to turn around. ‘Go and find Wynonna, find help… but do not come any closer…’

‘But…’

Nicole could feel Waverly behind her and it scared her senseless, ‘just go!’ she screamed with the hint of a growl in her voice.

Frightened by the cry, Waverly backed away immediately. She watched as Nicole flopped forwards so she was down on all fours gripping the earth in agony. Unwillingly, she obeyed Nicole’s orders and turned and fled back towards her jeep parked on a short distance away.

 

Feeling him hot on her heels, Wynonna weaved in and out of the gravestones. She could hear his menacing growling and roars as he spend after her. She that the person she knew could not be human. Ahead of her a tall wall approached at a height that would stop any normal human. However, with a few large steps and a leap, Wynonna had reached the top and was able to pull herself over. At the bottom, she turned back to see if it had kept Dolls at bay. Her question was answered quickly as he too easily scaled the wall. When his face appeared, his demonic appearance was more evident as his eyes burned red. After a deep breath, he roared loudly, shooting a thick column of fire down at Wynonna. Stunned she leapt back falling to the floor. Just in front of her toes the grass withered and died after being scorched by the flames. Wynonna looked back up at the man that only a few minutes before she had been sharing anecdotes and wine with. There was nothing of that man in the creature she stared up at. Without another glance back she pulled herself to her feet and continued to flee.

 

‘So you hold the scanner over the books like this…’ Jeremy said in the calm of the library. ‘Then… it appears on here… like this!’ he clicked a button and the page of the book that he had just scanned appeared on the laptop screen. Grinning, Jeremy turned to look up at Nedley who did not look impressed.

‘But why would you want what’s perfectly good on paper… on a screen?’ Nedley asked as he picked up a book flicking through the papers to make his point.

Jeremy rolled his eyes, ‘because then you can find and search for things so much more easily… a tap of a button and you’re there… in the modern day world Nedley. You need to catch up with it,’ he explained.

‘My filing system is perfectly up to scratch in the modern day world,’ Nedley protested gesturing to his cabinet next to the librarian’s desk. ‘All the cards are in alphabetical order, perfectly easy to find…’

‘Yes, but how many cards do you have in there?’ Nedley blinked a little stuck. ‘Exactly,’ he tried not to appear too pleased. ‘With a laptop you know exactly how many books you have and with a simple search you can find them in…’

‘Help!’ the scream caused both Jeremy and Nedley to jump where they stood. Whirling round they saw a man burst through the library doors. Dressed in a black hooded robe he moved instantly for Nedley. Startled, Jeremy looked around for a weapon but all he could find were the large books he had been scanning. The only thing available quickly, he picked one up and began to hit the man with it.

‘Get off him!’ Jeremy cried.

‘Jeremy!’ Nedley shouted putting his arm up to defend the man but Jeremy couldn’t hear and now started hitting Nedley by mistake. ‘JEREMY!’ At the louder cry, Jeremy ceased in his attack and saw that the man wasn’t going for Nedley, but instead holding onto him with a pleading expression on his face. ‘It’s okay… I know this man…’

‘Oh… sorry…’ Jeremy muttered placing the book down.

Holding on the man, Nedley lead him to a chair and helped him to get comfortable.

‘My friend…’ the man said breathlessly. ‘I’ve done… I’ve done something... I need your help.’

‘Jeremy this is Jones, he used to work for the council.’

‘Used to?’ Jeremy asked.

‘Yes… he had a bit of an obsession with the dark arts…’ At Jeremy’s inquisitive expression he continued. ‘Magic… and not like Harry Potter. Those dark arts are fairy dust compared to what can actually be cooked up in this world.’

‘You sure? The Cruciatus Curse still gives me the heebie jeebies,’ Jeremy said shivering.

Nedley ignored Jeremy’s remark and turned back to Jones, ‘what’s happened?’

Jones looked pained as he spoke, ‘I thought I had managed to come up with a magic spell that could catch all demons, especially those trapped within beings that still have some for of humanity. I’ve been working on it for years… but it went wrong.’ He covered his face with his hands mortified with himself. ‘All my work for nothing.’

‘You still did magic? Even after you lost everything?’ Nedley asked astonished.

‘I know…’ Jones nodded completely aware of his pathetic existence because of it. ‘I thought that if I drew the demons out of beings with humanity it would leave just the humanity behind and save them. But instead of capturing all demons…’ He stopped talking for a moment wary of the reaction that he knew was to come. ‘… I released them.’

Nedley’s face fell to a look that turned Jeremy’s blood cold, ‘you did what?’

‘I released them…’ Jones repeated. ‘So anything with a demon inside will be shown for what they really are and will act upon their most basic demonic instinct. I saw it in the vampire I had tied up when I did the spell. The demon was supposed to be drawn out from him leaving him human again… but instead, I think it exaggerated it.’

‘So you’re saying, that right now, anything with demonic blood is running around out there like it’s on some high?’ Nedley asked beginning to rage. Too scared to speak, Jones only nodded his face disappearing into his hands again. ‘Jones you absolute bloody moron!’ Disgusted he turned away wrenching his glasses off his face. ‘It’s bad enough what we have to deal with, let alone idiots like you wanting to play at Gandalf!’ He took a moment to calm himself before he turned around. ‘Luckily for you, I actually have someone here who has brains…’ He gestured at Jeremy who looked surprised then very pleased with himself. ‘Together we will try to put this right…’

‘How are we going to do that?’ Jeremy asked feeling suddenly put on the spot.

Nedley began to gather books from his office and place them on the table in front of them. ‘Every spell that’s ever cast leaves a trace, a footprint. If we can identify it, we can reverse it. Once we’ve done that, we just need to get the mixture of the ingredients right and we should be able to stop this…’

‘Like Science?’ Jeremy asked beginning to sense what they had to look for in the books.

‘Yes… and Wynonna tells me you’re very good at it,’ Nedley nodded.

Jeremy stopped for a moment, ‘she does?’

‘Yes… now come on… look!’ Nedley gestured to the books impatiently.

Jeremy did as he was told, but a smile spread over his face. Finally he had people in his life that actually made him feel good about himself. He finally really had friends.

 

After leaving Dolls at the wall, Wynonna had run just a few more meters before she remembered who she was and the duty she had to carry out. If she continued running she could only lead Dolls to people who could not outrun him. She stopped and stared ahead into the dark before turning slowly to see the demon that was the man she had been enjoying a date with. He had now leapt down from the wall and was bearing down on her again. He moved like a deranged gorilla holding his arms heavily almost dragging them along the floor. His teeth bared he roared and growled at her as his forehead continued to glow and his eyes filled with fire. Wynonna had to admit to herself that she was terrified. She had never faced anything like the creature that loomed before her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a stake. With the flames that poured out of him she knew that it would be useless and threw it to one side. With no other weapons, Wynonna looked at her hands and knew she was in deep trouble.

 

‘I’ve got it!’ Jeremy cried holding the book above his head. Instantly, Nedley dropped the book he had been frantically flipping through and made his way over. Jeremy met him half way and showed Nedley the page he had uncovered.

‘Yes… yes…’ Nedley nodded as he took the book. He ran his fingers down the ingredients. ‘Good… I have all of those… except…’ as soon as his finger found it he groaned and took the glasses off his face to show his distress. ‘Just the rarest of them all…’

‘What is it?’ Jones said from the chair he still remained in. He had been completely useless throughout Jeremy and Nedley’s endeavour to put right what he got so horribly wrong. Just a rocking guilty wreck.

‘Limbet root,’ Nedley stated.

‘That’s what I used as a catalyst for the spell!’ Jones exclaimed finally moving from his chair.

‘Do you have some?’

‘Yes… at the cave,’ Jones nodded.

‘Cave!’ Nedley cried. ‘Oh Jesus Jones how cliché do you want to be man!?’ Jones looked deeply embarrassed. ‘Right, well… I guess we’re going to the cave. Jeremy you take the book and check the measurements, I’ll get the ingredients.’ Jeremy nodded and got to work immediately.

‘What about me?’ Jones asked feeling a little left out.

Nedley spun round and looked at the man aghast, ‘you’re staying here. You have done enough damage already! Jesus do you need to find another hobby.’

 

As Waverly swerved her jeep back into town, she noticed straight away that something was wrong. From one side of the road, a frightened couple sprang from the shadows followed by an enraged vampire close behind them. As Waverly stared at his face, she realised there was something more evil, more demonised about him. It was something she hadn’t seen in the faces of any of the others she had encountered before. He was almost feral.

Reaching down to her right, she opened her glove pocket where she had stashed some of the weapons Wynonna had given her. Her trembling hands closed around a bottle of holy water and a stake. Looking back up, she watched as the vampire threw the man to one side and closed in on the woman.

‘Not a good idea Waverly… not a good idea…’ Waverly said to herself as she gripped the wheel. Then her eyes connected with the look of sheer terror on the innocent woman’s face. ‘Oh crap!’ She felt compelled to act and knew she had no choice. Leaping from her car she pulled the top off the holy water and when she reached him, threw it all over his head. The vampire screamed in agony holding the sides of his face as his skin boiled and steamed. ‘Go… get out of here!’ Waverly cried to the couple as they scrambled back together and fled. Looking back at the vampire she saw that he was still disorientated and took her moment. Adjusting the stake in her hand she moved around to the front of him and drove it into his chest. He exploded into dust before her as Waverly stood wide eyed in impressed shock at how efficient she had been. ‘Blimey Gibson, you’re getting good at this…’ she breathed out. She didn’t have long to enjoy the moment as another scream filled the air.

 

Diving to her left, Wynonna dodged another onslaught of a tirade of fire. She had tried talking to the monster in front of her but Dolls was not in there. He seemed only intent on killed Wynonna and as quickly as possible. With no weapon, no plan or any knowledge of how to kill him, Wynonna had settled on simply continuing to out run him. She used her strength to bound from grave stone to grave stone just out of reach of his scorching breath. In her haste when trying to reach one of the grave stones she misjudged it and fell to the floor. Grimacing she flipped up only to be met by a face full of flame. Just in time she was able to bend back dextrously and avoid being badly burnt. As the fire whistled past her skin she still felt its full force and landed on her back holding her face realising a part of her cheek had been burned.

‘Being cooked alive on a first date…’ she gasped. ‘That’s something to tell the grand kids…’

 

Having located the last ingredient they needed, Jeremy worked quickly using the book to mix the right ingredients together. Further inside the cave, Nedley busied himself creating a new fire and marking the necessary symbols in the stones around it.

‘Are you nearly ready?’ Nedley called.

‘Almost there…’ He stopped and looked at the book then back at the book. ‘Oh man… we don’t have enough of the root.’

Nedley looked back hardly daring to believe it, ‘you’re kidding me!’

‘No… no… wait…’ Jeremy put his hand to his head as he tried to think. ‘From the feel of it, this is just like a Bloodroot flower, I can tell from its stem. With the same features and properties…’ Still thinking out loud he rushed out of the cave. Nedley stared after him bewildered. After a few moments Jeremy returned pulling the flower off the stem of some plants he had picked. ‘… yes, this should work. Simple biology… and it should work…’

‘Should work?’ Nedley repeated dubious. ‘SHOULD work?’

‘Just trust me okay,’ Jeremy asked just as flustered as he prepared the last ingredients grinding them down into a powder.

Nedley found himself smiling at the boy, ‘Wynonna does and I can see why,’ he stated as he continued his part of the ritual.

 

Falling back behind a monument, Wynonna held her injured arm as her clothes showed more signs of the flames catching her body. Her burnt check glowed red and stung horribly. Leaning back she tried to catch her breath as she looked up at the sky.

‘I need some help… from somewhere… someone… please…’ she begged. She wasn’t sure who she was talking to, but she prayed that someone would hear her.

Suddenly, two black boots landed in front of her as Wynonna stared back at the ground. As Wynonna’s eyes followed the slender legs up which were encased by a long leather coat she began to feel relief flood her body as she recognised them. That was until her eyes met Nicole’s face.

‘Oh Jesus…’ she gasped.

For a moment, it seemed as though the new demonic form of the woman in front of her was going to go for Wynonna and for Nicole, she must have thought so too. However, snarling, something else caught Nicole’s attention. She past Wynonna’s shoulder and saw the other demon bearing down. The conflict within was evident, but Nicole won. She left Wynonna, leaping over the stranded slayer to carry on the fight.

 

Up in the cave, Nedley chanted whilst Jeremy followed his every instruction. The flames danced and writhed as Nedley read word for word from the book. At his signal, Jeremy grabbed a handful of the powder he had created and carefully threw it into the fire. As soon as he had done so, the fire glowed an even darker crimson and a new mist rose from it. With more purpose than the previous one created, it shot straight out of the cave and headed towards to town. Nedley stopped chanting. He and Jeremy turned and looked out of the cave down towards town. Now all they could do was wait.

 

Standing up, Wynonna looked over towards the fight unfolding before her. Having found a discarded spade left by one of the newly dug graves, Nicole was using it to defend herself against the flames. This allowed her to get closer to Dolls and finally she was able to land a punch to his face sending him to the floor. Ridden with surprise, Dolls shook his head violently. It only seemed to anger him more. Still holding her arm, Wynonna could only stand and stare. She couldn’t believe that she was watching the same man she had seen as a stand-up solider in The Initiative and the same woman who only seemed to be interested in protecting a young innocent ex-cheerleader.

Able to deflect another fiery roar, Nicole ducked and dived and landed a kick to the demon’s chin sending him reeling backwards. Some of the flames had however made contact with her neck. Growling, Nicole brought her hand to her neck feeling the pain pulsate through her body. Angered by the injury, Nicole closed the gap between them still holding the spade in front of her face for protection. With this implement in the way, Dolls realised that he would not be able to cause Nicole the harm he wanted. Standing up he grabbed it with his two hands and tried to use his strength to pry it from her fingers. However, her grip was just as strong as she kept it before her face. Spit dripped from Dolls’ mouth as he tried to get just a glimpse of Nicole’s face so he could finish her.

Suddenly a hissing sound caused Wynonna to crane her neck and look up. Like a flock of dancing starlings, the red mist appeared and descended on the struggling pair. Unlike the mist before it, it did not hesitate. Instead it shot instantly in through their mouths causing them to fly backwards away from each other. Dolls landed hard against the gravestone coughing and spluttering as though choking. Nicole did the same as she lay sprawling out on the grass. Wynonna held her breath not knowing what to expect next.

Cautiously, the slayer began to move towards the subdued pair as they remained on the floor trying to collect themselves. Dolls coughed and spluttered longer than Nicole his throat dry and hoarse from the flames that had surged through them. It was Nicole who pulled herself to her feet first. When she turned back to face the girl approaching her, Wynonna was relieved to see it was in its human form again. The two stood and stared at each other, Nicole’s face filled with humiliation and shame.

‘You’re a…’ Wynonna started.

‘Yes,’ Nicole nodded.

‘But you…’ the slayer started.

‘Don’t tell Waverly,’ Nicole interrupted with a pleading expression. ‘Please…’

Wynonna studied Nicole’s face, so full of feeling and emotion. Something which simply should not have been there. It made no sense at all. ‘She’s my friend Nicole… I can’t lie to her…’ She forgot her confusion as to why Waverly’s opinion mattered so much. It was lost amongst her bewilderment of what she had just witnessed.

‘I understand… she deserves better than me,’ the sadness on Nicole’s face was palpable. With no further word she turned away from the slayer and disappeared into the darkness around them. Wynonna watched her go, but her mind returned to the man who had been catapulted by the spell to the other side of the grave yard. However, when she turned back to face him, he had gone.

 

Her arm hanging limp down by her side, but still somehow holding onto the stake in her hand, Waverly trudged out of the alley absolutely exhausted. Somehow she had fought two more vampires and survived but her face showed the scars. Blood dripped from a wound above her eye and from her lip. The entire time, she had only wanted one person to appear, like she always did. But all she could hear in her mind was Nicole’s scream. The scream of pain and humiliation.

Once out in the night air, she felt her heart long to see Nicole’s face. She looked around her, wondering if Nicole was lurking in the shadows. ‘Nicole?’ she asked into the air. There was no answer. Waverly hadn’t expected an answer, but her heart had hoped. ‘Nicole…?’

‘She’s not coming.’ The voice that replied was cruel as it laughed. Waverly stopped dead as an unfamiliar vampire jumped down from the roof and landed in front of her. With black hair and coloured skin that showed the potential for real beauty, the vampire was only ugly due to its ugly demonic forehead and teeth. ‘She’s not who you think she is…’ She began to circle Waverly, like a vulture circling its prey. Waverly remained still, stuck to the floor, only her eyes moving to follow. ‘… in fact, she’s not really a who at all…’ There was clear delight in the words the vampire spoke as she loomed over the vulnerable girl. ‘She’s not even human.’

‘What do you mean?’ Waverly asked her voice shaking as she gripped the stake in her hand more tightly. ‘Who are you?’

Standing before Waverly, the vampire licked her tongue slowly over her teeth, ‘I’m Shae,’ she said proudly with a snarl. She let the moment linger for a while, taunting Waverly continuing to hold back just for a little longer what the girl needed to hear. Waverly watched her intensely, not letting her guard down for a moment as she waited for the words to leave the malicious demon’s mouth.

‘I’m Nicole’s sire…’


	6. Nicole

 

Glancing continuously over her shoulder Waverly raced towards her jeep. She knew that Shae was mocking her by not chasing after her yet. With her speed and strength, Shae could catch up with her in seconds. After waiting until the last moment, she did just this. Waiting for Waverly to nearly reach her jeep she flew forward and rammed Waverly into her car door. With a cry, Waverly fell to the floor holding her head disorientated. She wasn’t able to get to her feet as Shae did it for her. She wrapped a powerful hand around Waverly’s throat and held her against the door with Waverly’s feet only just touching the ground. Her head pounding, Waverly grabbed Shae’s arm and tried to pull it off, but it was no use.

‘Oh I’m going to enjoy killing you,’’ Shae hissing through her sharp teeth. ‘I’ve seen how she looks at you, cares for you… a human… it’s disgusting.’ Waverly was unable to speak as she gasped for air. ‘She and I used to have so much fun. Now she just follows you around like a lost puppy.’ She bent her elbow so she could move in her face hovering inches away from Waverly’s. ‘She’s only the shell of the demon she should be… and I think by killing you, I can help to bring that back…’

‘Nothing can bring it back Shae!’ Waverly found herself back on the floor as Shae was forced to let go. Two hands grabbed Shae by the shoulder and threw her across the road. The vampire landed but was quickly able to get back to her feet unhurt. She spun round and smirked when she saw Nicole standing guard in front of Waverly who remained slumped on the floor.

‘Look at you Nicole,’ Shae called scornfully. ‘You used to be feared, emulated, worshipped… now you’re just this pathetic loner who lusts after a human… it’s so sad.’ Nicole said nothing. She simply glared at Shae wary of an impending attack. ‘You and I could be what we were… Gods of the underworld.’

‘It will never be like it was Shae…’ Nicole stated. ‘And you come anywhere near Waverly again, I swear to god I will drive a stake through your heart.’

Shae scoffed, ‘over one hundred years… and you would kill me for that pitiful piece of tail?’

‘Without hesitation,’ Nicole breathed out.

This did not touch Shae at all as she just cackled; ‘oh man… it’s even worse than I thought…’ she began to back away knowing this was a fight she could not win. ‘Maybe you are beyond help…’ With a final glower, Shae turned and vanished down the road. Nicole watched her go until she was gone completely, fearing for Waverly’s life, but also fearing for the look on Waverly’s face when she turned round.

Nicole revolved slowly as Waverly pulled herself to her feet. In her left hand she still held the stake and was tightening her grip around it. Nicole was aware of this as her eyes fluttered to it for a moment before they returned to Waverly’s face. The young girl’s expression showed her confusion as Nicole read both heartbreak and fear in her eyes. Nicole knew that this was a moment out of her control. She had held back the truth waiting for the right moment to tell her, but that had been undone and she would have to deal with the consequences. The only thing she was most afraid of was losing the girl stood in front of her. She would much rather Waverly take the stake and drive it through her heart.

Nicole’s eyes searched for a reaction in Waverly’s as Waverly studied the angelic face that gazed down at her. There wasn’t a blemish or a hint of the demon that lay inside. ‘Show me,’ she said. Nicole frowned unsure of the request. ‘Show me who you are…’ Now Nicole understood. She hesitated, shaking her head as she knew the repulsion it would cause. The one saving grace of not having a reflection. But Waverly was unmoved, steadfast in what she needed to see. Looking down, Nicole closed her eyes and forced the transformation. If her heart could beat, she would have felt it pounding in her chest as she brought her face up to look at Waverly.

Although Waverly had seen and fought many vampires, nothing prepared her for the change to Nicole’s face. It seemed more grotesque than the rest, only because of the shock of its existence. She couldn’t help bring a hand to her mouth and step back at the sight of it.

‘This is who I am Waverly,’ Nicole said, her voice changed slightly by the two long sharp teeth now protruding from her upper jaw, more disgusted than ever with herself and the creature she was.

After gathering her thoughts, Waverly managed to pull her hand away from her mouth, ‘tell me…’ she demanded. ‘Tell me who you are…’

 

_1792_

With another enraged bellow from her father ringing in her ears, Nicole fell out of the front door into the street. Her hands hit the cobbles hard but yet she laughed, stupidly. Wiping her mouth, she stumbled to her feet and swayed to get her balance holding onto nothing but her hands acted like there was.

Seething, the red face of her father appeared in the doorway, ‘you are a disgrace!’

‘Oh tell me something I haven’t heard,’ Nicole cried back throwing her arms wide.

‘Look at you,’ the man gestured exasperated. ‘Your sisters are all married, with good men… what are you? A pathetic drunk. How am I supposed to find a suitable husband for you?’

‘Something tells me you don’t actually want to… father…’ Nicole spat coldly.

Her father’s eyes widened, ‘it’s what expected,’ he stammered. ‘And isn’t it something you want?’

Nicole just stared at him through glazed eyes and began to laugh, ‘oh Father… you’re so blind.’

He recoiled shocked, ‘What is that supposed to mean?’ There was no answer, Nicole simply shook her head and managed to turn around to stagger down the street. ‘Nicole… you get back here right now!’ She ignored his cries and made her way down the street and around the corner. Once out of sight of her father, but still able to hear his fruitless cries, Nicole slumped back against the wall and continued to laugh drunkenly. Dishevelled and a mess she caught the attention of a passing gentlemen and his wife.

‘What are you looking at eh?’ she barked at them. They jumped back shocked and quickened their pace to walk on. Nicole glared at them as they disappeared down the street. Her expression then turned to disappointment as she realised she was without a drink in her hand. Her head rolling around heavily she looked up and down the street, searching for a way she could get hold of another drink. Instead, something else caught her attention.

Standing in an alleyway nearby, a woman, in a far better condition than Nicole in her elaborate dress, watched Nicole from over her shoulder. Astonished, Nicole could only stand unstably and gape. Slowly, the woman’s mouth curled into a smile and she began to walk away down the narrow alley. As she faded into the shadows, Nicole felt compelled to follow. Lurching forward, she stumbled across the street and fell into the alley after her. At the end, the woman was waiting.

Nicole no longer felt drunk as her breath was taken away by the woman’s beauty, ‘where have you come from?’ she gasped walking forward towards her.

‘Come closer and I’ll tell you,’ the woman replied standing almost completely concealed in darkness. Nicole obeyed transfixed. ‘There’s a good girl.’ As Nicole advanced, the woman stepped out to allow her face to be bathed in the glow of the candlelight from a nearby window. Nicole inhaled deeply. The woman continued her step until she was standing opposite Nicole, with only inches between them. Unable to resist, Nicole bit her lip as her eyes cast themselves over heaving cleavage and the slender neck and jaw line that stood before her. ‘Like what you see?’ Nicole’s silence due to her engrossed eyes was enough to give the answer. The woman’s dark skin glowed in the candlelight, Nicole longed to touch it. The woman sensed this. She reached down and took Nicole’s hand in her own, then brought it up and placed it on her chest. Nicole breathed in sharply, both at the chill of the skin and at the feel of the rise and fall of its shape beneath her fingers. As Nicole moved her fingers and back and forth over the curves of the woman’s chest, the enjoyment of the moment was clearly being reciprocated in the woman’s gentle moans. ‘I can show you things,’ the woman whispered watching Nicole’s fingers. ‘I can show you the world and we can break it open together.’

As Nicole began to smile, she heard bones snap and skin stretch as the woman’s face morphed into a sight she had never seen before. However, something that should have horrified her only mesmerised her more. Delighted at the reaction, the vampire opened her mouth and leant forward to bury her teeth into Nicole’s neck. Nicole cried out at the pain and gripped the woman’s arms as she heard the gulping of her blood going down the vampire’s throat. The pain didn’t last long, before long her head was swimming more than the last glass of wine had caused it to. Soon, she was limp in the vampire’s arms but the vampire did not let her go. She held Nicole up on her feet as Nicole’s head hung back, close to death. With one finger, the vampire took her nail and sliced into the skin on her chest causing it to bleed. Grabbing the back of Nicole’s head she pulled it into her chest so Nicole could drink. The human did, hungrily. For a few moments, the blood she drank gave her life and strength as it was her turn to grip the vampire’s arms tightly. Elated, the vampire threw her head back and laughed into the night air.

 

‘Stop,’ Waverly closed her eyes and hung her head.

‘You asked me to tell you I am,’ Nicole protested her face now returned to its human form.

‘I know… but, I can’t… it’s too much,’ she forced herself to look back up at Nicole. Now that the vampire was in her human form, she was striking again. So stunningly beautiful as the street lights shone off her skin. ‘I’m sorry have to go…’ With tears in her eyes, Waverly turned back to her jeep. Once inside, she turned the keys in the engine and took a moment to look back at Nicole as she stood exactly where Waverly had left her. Their eyes met. It hurt. Nicole’s look was pleading and painful. Waverly couldn’t look anymore. Her eyes returning to the road ahead of her, she pulled away and drove off down the road.

 

The bustle of the school halls were a blur as Waverly sat in one of the recess areas at a table. A can of soda sat in front of her unopened since the moment it had come out of the machine. She could see Nicole in every single drop of condensation that dripped down its surface.

‘Jesus,’ Wynonna stated as she sat down next to her. ‘You look how I feel…’

It took a moment for Waverly to tear her eyes away from her thoughts, ‘what?’

‘Okay spill…’ Wynonna demanded. ‘Though I bet your night was not as bad as mine.’

As Waverly’s eyes refocused she could see the burn more clearly on the slayer’s cheek, ‘what happened?’

Wynonna saw the direction of Waverly’s gaze and put her finger up gingerly to her cheek, she flinched even before it had even made contact, ‘worst first date ever…’ Waverly just frowned causing Wynonna to go on. ‘Dolls, he asked me out… and turns out, he’s one of those things that go bump in the night.’

‘But he’s a…’ Waverly started.

‘Yep,’ Wynonna sighed despondent, ‘makes no sense does it?’

‘So what is he?’ Waverly asked forgetting her own troubles.

‘That… I couldn’t tell you… but he breathes fire…’ To this Waverly simply widened her eyes as she remained slumped back in her chair arms folded across her chest. ‘I don’t even know if I can bring myself to ask Nedley or Jeremy to research what the hell he is. I’m not sure I want to know.’

‘Sometimes it’s better not to know…’ Waverly murmured looking back at the can of soda.

Looking round, Wynonna caught Waverly’s dejected expression, ‘now come on… you can’t have it worse than that?’

‘Wanna bet?’ Waverly challenged. Wynonna raised her eyebrow and turned so that she was facing Waverly with unwavering attention. Waverly closed her eyes for a moment to gather her thoughts knowing she had been hiding this for too long. ‘I’ve been…’ she paused. The words hurt, struggling to come out of her mouth. ‘I’ve been meeting up with Nicole.’

‘Nicole?’ Wynonna wondered her mind blank. ‘Who’s…’ Then she worked it out and it came back to her. ‘Mysterious girl who hangs in the shadows Nicole?’ A sense of dread entered her stomach remembering what she had seen. However, she remained calm. ‘Why have you been…?’ Waverly simply moved her eyes sideways to meet Wynonna’s. There was a brief pause before realisation washed over the slayer’s face. ‘Oh…’ Waverly watched her carefully, terrified of her eminent reaction. Wynonna knew that this was a delicate moment. It horrified her that Waverly was possibly indicating that she was involved with the vampire she had seen. But in this moment, Waverly had revealed something very personal which needed kind handling. Wynonna had to decide, right now was she a slayer or Waverly’s friend? ‘Oh okay…’ she shrugged deciding on the latter. ‘Well that’s… a surprise but… okay.’

‘Really?’ Waverly checked, still terrified. ‘Because I’m freaking out here.’

‘Why?’ Wynonna smiled a little forced. ‘Because she’s a girl?’

‘I wish that were the problem…’ Waverly stated adjusting her position awkwardly.

Wynonna studied Waverly, ‘what’s the problem?’

Waverly knew of all people, Wynonna would be the one she could tell, but she felt the overwhelming sense of humiliation stay her words. She took a deep breath to try and find them again. ‘She’s a vampire.’

Letting out the breath she was holding, Wynonna let relief wash over her. She smiled again, this time with sympathy, ‘I know.’

‘You know?’ She sat bolt up in her chair.

‘This,’ she pointed at her cheek. ‘Could have been a lot worse if she hadn’t shown up when Dolls was attacking me. She saved me, but I saw her face.’

The bewilderment of that fact was plain to see on both their faces, ‘but vampires have no soul right? They don’t care…’ Waverly said thinking out loud. ‘Why would she save you? Why would she save me so many times?’

‘I don’t know Waves… it doesn’t make any sense.’ Without a word, Waverly moved back in her chair perplexed and frustrated. Wynonna studied her and reached out to touch her arm. ‘You really like her don’t you?’

Waverly nodded not looking at Wynonna. Then moved her head so she could do so needing comforting eyes. ‘It was scary enough before… but now… I’m terrified.’

‘It’s okay you know,’ Wynonna smiled kindly. ‘That you like a girl.’ Waverly returned the smile, in light of all the perplexity she was feeling, the warm acceptance in Wynonna’s friendship brought her a small taste of comfort.

 

Staring out into the dark, Waverly didn’t even have to call out. From the moment that she had sat down on the porch in the cooling night air, she felt her presence. Nicole loitered out of sight, allowing Waverly to adjust to her being so close. She knew everything had changed between them now. Bringing herself to do so, Waverly cast a glance over her shoulder and met Nicole’s eyes. It was no longer a look of longing and curiosity, it was pained and confused.

Nicole dared to move a little closer. She took her instruction from the heart beat she could hear in Waverly’s chest. She could sense it was fear that caused it to quicken, so paused her step but kept Waverly fully in view. It pained her that Waverly was so afraid when she was close.

‘Tell me…’ Waverly asked hesitantly.

 

_1792_

For any other being, lurking in a graveyard in the middle of the night would have been a fool’s errand. However, for Shae as she stood over the newly covered grave absent a grave stone, she feared nothing. Absorbed in the awakening that was to occur she was impatient with anticipation. Then finally, the earth below began to shake and fall away as it was pushed to one side. Shae licked her lips hungry to see her creation as she rose from the soil.

Gasping for something which wasn’t air, Nicole braced herself against the cold night, except she could not feel its effect. Overawed by her greatly heightened senses, Nicole blinked her eyes to get her bearings.

‘That’s it…’ Shae told her delighted. ‘Feel it my love… you are alive again.’

Nicole however, seemed in pain, ‘it hurts…’ she wheezed.

‘Oh it will… it’s the urge… the hunger,’ Shae stepped in closer and ran her hands up and down Nicole’s arms. At the touch, Nicole growled, a sound which caused her alarm for a moment. ‘Oh wow… you are so ready to go. So young… so fresh…’ She leaned in and kissed the mark she had left on Nicole’s throat. ‘And all mine…’

‘Everything is so loud… so close…’ Nicole’s eyes darted over the grave yard reacting to every sound, it was almost deafening as she continued to shake violently. ‘And why am I so hungry…?’

‘Because you are alive again… your new power is surging… we just need to feed it,’ she bit at Nicole’s neck, but something across the grave yard had the new vampire’s full attention. Detecting her distraction Shae looked up and followed her eye line to where a candle moved through the graveyard. Nicole began to snarl eagerly. Shae brought her lips up to Nicole’s ear, ‘go my love… feed.’

Nicole did not hold back. With a grin, she tore across the grave yard. Her speed took her by surprise but she adapted to it quickly. In no time at all she was standing before a young woman visiting her husband’s grave. Clutching a bunch of flowers was visibly shaken by Nicole’s sudden appearance. Nicole eyed her up and down before she morphed into her new demon self. It easy, she didn’t even have to think about it. Naturally, her brow contorted and two teeth lengthened and sharpened from her upper jaw. The woman screamed and tried to run but Nicole was too quick. She had her hands on the woman holding her tightly staring down at her throbbing neck.

Nicole could sense Shae behind her who was leaning back against a grave stone enjoying every moment of the spectacle. Almost seeking approval, Nicole waited for her sire to smile. Shae did malevolently. Reassured, Nicole’s eyes returned to the woman in her arms. Bearing her teeth, she opened her mouth and plunged them into flesh. It wasn’t long before the woman was limp and Nicole’s thirst was satisfied. With blood dripping from her mouth she dropped the dead body of the woman on the floor and looked back at Shae who was grinning smugly.

‘That…’ she said walking over to Nicole. ‘Was only a taste of things to come.’

 

_A few days later._

When the door opened, Nicole ensured that her face look has humanly compassionate as possible, even though inside, she felt nothing. It was her mother who answered the door greeting Nicole with a relieved cry pulling who she thought was her daughter into her arms.

‘Oh my darling girl,’ she held Nicole tightly, but it was not returned. ‘Where have you been?’

‘Away…’ Nicole said plainly. ‘Father didn’t seem too happy with me so I thought I would give him space.’ Her mother pulled out of the embrace and studied her daughter, looking almost guilty. She went to move back into the house but was puzzled when Nicole did not follow. Nicole could no longer enter without an invitation. ‘I’m not sure I should…’ Nicole began cleverly. ‘Considering how Father was with me last time…’

Her mother looked mortified, ‘my own daughter, scared to enter her own home? You forget him my girl. You will always be our daughter so come in.’ As she turned her back on Nicole, malicious smirk came over the vampires face as she stepped easily over the threshold. Her eyes wandered up and down her mother’s body then settled on the innocent woman’s neck.

‘Nicole!’ the vampire’s thoughts were stopped at the entrance of her father. ‘You’re back.’

Nicole straightened, ‘I am indeed father. Are you happy to see me?’ She knew the answer. She was taunting him.

‘I’m glad to see you are alive…’ his eyes flitted up and down his daughter. ‘And I must say, looking a lot more respectable.’

‘Well Father,’ Nicole went on walking slowly around the room touching inanimate objects. ‘I’ve changed. I am no longer the woman you knew.’

‘Well I’m glad to hear it.’

Nicole stopped walking and glanced at him, ‘oh I’m not so sure about that.’ The man frowned as Nicole began to move back towards her mother. ‘You see, I’ve gone through some changes and it’s allowed me think about your treatment of me.’ She stood behind her mother and placed her hand on the woman’s shoulder. ‘Clearly you have no respect for me. So maybe I should show no respect for you…’

Her mother was confused by the feel of Nicole’s hands on her shoulder, ‘you’re so cold…’ At this, Nicole allowed her face to change.

‘Oh god…’ her father gasped.

Glancing over her shoulder, Nicole’s mother was only able to cry out for a second before Nicole covered her mouth and held her harshly. She looked down at her mother’s neck before returning her eyes to see her father’s reaction. ‘You took every bit of dignity from me. You were the reason I drank. You were the reason I was failure in this world as a human. When you put your hands on me you made me feel like it was my fault, like I had asked for it. No wonder I could never have any feelings for men… you made me feel repulsed by them.’

In the vampire’s arms, Nicole’s mother stared at her husband, her eyes begging for the words not to be true. ‘Don’t listen to them, they’re not true,’ he begged her.

‘She can believe what she likes… but the simple matter at hand is that you took my innocence away from me… so I’m going to take the most important thing away from you,’ She watched her father’s eyes widen with horror. Nicole savoured the moment before her teeth were in her mother’s neck gulping down the blood. The body in her arms meant nothing to her. There was no guilt, no regret, nothing. Only the satisfaction of the anguish this would be causing the man that used to be her father.

Once the life had drained from her mother’s body, Nicole dropped it to the ground and licked the blood off her fingers. She looked down at the pathetic embodiment of a man that sat crumpled on the floor. As she walked over to him he tried to crawl around her to get to his dead wife, but with a simple flick of her leg, Nicole kicked him in the face so he reeled back and slumped against the wall.

‘No… no…’ he cried into the air. ‘God… help me…’

Nicole laughed at him, ‘oh God isn’t here father…’ she bent down in front of him and took his face in her strong hand. ‘God wasn’t here when you came to me every night, God wasn’t here when you watched my life become nothing, God wasn’t here when I was buried and he certainly wasn’t here when I rose to be what I am.’ Tears began to flow down her father’s cheeks. ‘You didn’t even know that I had died. Five days, I was gone and you didn’t even know. Did I mean so little to you? Or maybe I meant too much?’ She squeezed her hand causing him to cry out. With one more clench of her fist, she could break his jaw as easily as snapping a match stick. ‘Well… it doesn’t matter now.’ Her eyes burned deep into his. ‘I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to leave you a pitiful old man with the knowledge that I could come for you… any day, any night… and trust me, for everything you put me through… when I do, your death will not be as quick as mother’s.’ Letting go of his face, she threw him against the wall. His head and back hit it hard leaving him writhing on the floor in pain. Nicole stood up slowly and elegantly. Turning, a content smile came over her face as she stepped over her mother’s dead body and walked out of the door.

 

From one side of the porch, Nicole watched Waverly who sat on the other side carefully. Just as Nicole’s had burned into her father’s, Waverly’s burned into Nicole’s. She was speechless, trying to process what she had just been told.

‘I um… I need a moment…’ Waverly rose from the bench she had been standing on and moved for her front door. Guilt ridden with the pain she was causing Waverly, Nicole moved forward to meet her but Waverly flinched at her first step. ‘Stay back…’ realising she had raised her hand to protect herself, Waverly slowly lowered it. ‘Please… stay back…’ she said more quietly before moving inside the house and closing the door behind her. Nicole stared at the door shut in her face. The moment Waverly had asked, she knew that this could have been the reaction. It didn’t matter how prepared she thought she was for it, it was still heart breaking.

 

Her arms folded defensively across her chest, Wynonna stared down into the pit. All other creatures and demons had been cleared from it and only one remained bound to the gurney in the middle. Surrounding Dolls were at least a dozen soldiers with weapons raised as three doctors in lab coats surrounded him. They were all wearing protective face gear and looked incredible apprehensive as they carried out their work.

One of them stepped forward holding out a needle. Dolls now in human form looked at the man warily but knew that he had no choice. Yet, the doctor still waited for his permission. Dolls nodded and lay back already clenching his fists ready for what was to come. The serum burned as it flowed through his veins. He jerked and cried out, arching his back and twisting, as it made its way around his whole body. Then his eyes glowed red once again. The soldiers ordered the doctors to move back as they held their weapons more tightly. However, the red eyes only remained briefly before they faded away and Dolls was able to relax into the bed once more.

‘It’s not an easy watch is it?’

Wynonna looked round to see Allenbach standing beside her, ‘no…’

She heard him sigh. ‘We’ve always known that Dolls has this… thing inside of him…’ Allenback continued. ‘But, it shouldn’t have just come out like it did… he would never have wanted that.’

The slayer watched as another serum was produced and once again he writhed in agony when it was injected, ‘how long must this go on for?’

Allenbach could hear the shake in her voice, ‘as long as necessary. He understands that.’

Shaking her head, Wynonna could no longer watch. She turned to face Allenbach but she could still hear Dolls’ cries from over her shoulder. ‘I can’t…’ she began closing her eyes to another shout. ‘Tell him…’

‘The Dolls that nearly killed you in the grave yard… that was not the real Dolls…’ Allenbach tried.

It was not enough. ‘I can’t… tell him, I’m sorry… but I can’t…’ Unable to hear anymore, either from Dolls or Allenbach, Wynonna quickened her step and made a quick exit out of the Initiative.

 

At the sound of the door opening, Nicole sprang to her feet as if she were a soldier standing to attention. Waverly appeared again, but this time wrapped in a blanket holding a cup in her hand. She returned to the relative safety of the other side of the porch where she retook her seat.

She took a sip of her drink, her face strangely contorting at the taste. When she looked up she saw Nicole’s confusion. ‘Thought I’d give whiskey a try…’ Waverly explained. ‘Gus’ stash. They say it calms the nerves.’

‘Waverly… if you can’t here this then…’

‘No,’ Waverly snapped. She shook herself a little to calm herself. ‘No… I need to…’ She brought herself to look up at the beautiful woman who sat before her. The struggle inside her head was excruciating. She could see the kind and beguiling face of the woman she had been falling for, but even though it wasn’t evident on Nicole’s current form, she could also see the monster. ‘After you killed your mother… did you go back and kill your father?’

Nicole hesitated; it was clearly as difficult for her to speak it as it was for Waverly to hear, ‘no…’ she replied. ‘my father took his own life a few days later after the burial of my mother. Back then I was disappointed as I did want him to suffer after everything he had done to me, but now I’m glad.’

‘See, this confuses me… how do you care?’ She could see it in Nicole’s expression; her furrowed brow, her expressive eyes, so much emotion which had no place on a vampire’s face. ‘Vampires have no souls…’

 

_1907_

Bursting through the door, Nicole’s mouth hungrily grabbed at Shae’s. Their hands snatched at each other’s clothes and revealed skin wanting to feel and taste more. Clothes were pulled back greedily to allow more access for their ravenous fingers. Nicole shoved Shae up against the first wall that greeted them her strength able to lift her slightly off the ground. To this Shae growled in approval.

‘You are an eager one this evening,’ she sniggered.

Nicole pulled away, ‘I just love all the nasty things you do…’ she bit at Shae’s jaw. Something which delighted the other vampire. ‘over one hundred years… your deviance does not get old…’

‘Well…’ she wrapped her hands around Nicole’s neck to pull her. ‘I’m glad you approve.’ She engulfed Nicole’s lips with her mouth and kept her close. ‘Because I have a present for you.’

Nicole put her down and followed Shae as the vampire took her hand and led her into their small living room where a fire burned and a young woman lay tied up sprawled on the floor. Instantly, Nicole felt new hunger intensify within her as she licked her lips.

‘All for you my love…’ Shae whispered huskily. ‘She’s the most precious of her clan.’

‘A gypsy?’ Nicole asked sounding even more excited.

‘An innocent, a virgin and all yours…’ She kissed Nicole’s neck then gave the younger vampire a little shove towards the terrified girl on the floor.

Nicole slowly approached then lowered herself down onto her knees at the girl’s feet. Deliberately, she placed her hands on the gypsy’s legs and pushed her hands up them following every curve of their slender form. When she reached the upper thighs, Nicole pushed the girl’s skirt up to reveal more. Behind her, Shae revelled in the sight. Changing her face, Nicole bared her teeth and sunk them into the warm skin on the inside of the woman’s thigh. The girl cried out horrified, both at the sight of Nicole and at the pain. The cry however only instilled Nicole to devour more.

 

‘Little did we know exactly how precious that girl was to her father and her clan… I found out just a few days later…’ Nicole told Waverly.

 

Appearing from the woods shadowed in night, disorientated and bewildered Nicole fell to the floor in front of a fire and a cluster of caravans. She had been pulled here, against her will. A power from deep inside the forest had called to her. A man of high standing stood on the other side of the fire waving his hands over the flames. At the sight of the scared vampire kneeling on the floor before him the man stopped. He lowered his hands and walked round so he could stand over Nicole with a satisfied smile.

‘What… what have you done to me?’ Nicole gasped.

‘Nothing yet…’ from his pocket he took out a golden glowing orb. He held it out over Nicole and waved his other hand over it. As he did so, as if kicked, Nicole flew back onto the grass with another cry of pain.

‘Stop it!’ she screamed clutching her chest. The man ignored her. All she could hear were his Romanian words of chanting as he continued his spell. As she writhed, Nicole could see that he was not alone. More gypsies were appearing from the caravans, coming to view the display in front of them. She was able to get herself back onto all fours and tried to crawl over him but the pain and his calm retreat, step by step, prevented her from doing so. Then with one final cry of words, Nicole felt it hit her like she had been stabbed. For a split second, her eyes glowed bright yellow reflecting the colour of the orb in the man’s hand. She gasped and coughed. Slowly, the glow in her eyes faded and her straight and unfeeling brow suddenly fell and her eyes turned soft and mournful.

‘Oh god…’ she whispered. She could feel it all.

Placing the orb back in his pocket, the man returned to standing in front of the sorrowful vampire knowing it was safe. ‘Every woman, every man and every child… every living soul that you have taken… you will feel,’ he said slowly and clearly. Nicole looked up at him devastated. ‘You will feel the guilt, the regret and relive their pain and fear with every waking moment. You will remember and feel the shame of the monster that you are.’

‘No…’ her cry wasn’t at his words, but of the memory of a kill that had just flashed into her mind. After this had passed there was another, then another, then another, as clear as the day on which it had occurred. She could see their faces, feel their anguish, feel their terror… it was crushing.

‘You won’t be able to exist as a vampire anymore because anyone else you kill… will join the memories that will now haunt you for eternity….’ He walked around Nicole as she held her head, the visions swamping her mind. ‘Yet, you remain in vampire form… so even though you feel like them… you do not belong with humans either.’ Once he returned to her face, he knelt down so he could enjoy watching the remorse spread over it. ‘You are alone Nicole… alone with your torment… exactly what you deserve.’

 

‘You have a soul?’ Waverly asked for clarity.

Nicole nodded slowly looking at her hands, ‘and you’d think that I wouldn’t remember every… single… one…’ her face creased in pain. ‘But I see them, every day, every second… just as the gypsy warlock promised. It’s not become any easier with time, but I’ve learnt to live with them.’ She raised her head and gazed at Waverly. ‘By doing what’s right… helping… caring for others.’

Waverly understood the meaning but could not enjoy it. ‘How many people do you think you’ve killed?’

‘Too many,’ Nicole replied. ‘And that’s not because of how they haunt me but because of the true regret I feel for their deaths. This soul…’ she put her hand to her chest. ‘This soul is humanity and it burns inside me. It’s a conscience, its compassion, its empathy… its love…’

‘You can love?’

Nicole’s face softened, Waverly could see it in her eyes, but she was struggling to believe it, ‘all vampires can love Waverly…’ Nicole went on. ‘… but it’s not real love, its lust, hunger, desire in the most basic almost animal form. I didn’t love Shae. I thought I did… I believed I did at the time…’ The intensity in Nicole’s gaze on Waverly grew. ‘But I didn’t know real love until…’

‘Don’t…’ Waverly stood up and turned away from her. Her whiskey glass was empty and her head was spinning. She pulled the blanket around her shoulders tighter around her body. As she closed her eyes, the falling over her eyelids caused a tear to be pressed from them. She felt it roll down her check as clearly as she felt Nicole’s presence behind her.

Despite Waverly’s words, Nicole felt compelled to ensure Waverly understood. With quick but silent strides, Nicole crossed the porch and stood behind her. The heavy rising and falling of Waverly’s chest told Nicole, Waverly knew she was there, ‘you have to understand this…’ she longed to place her hands on Waverly’s back, stroke her arms and hold her close. But she kept them down by her side. The proximity of their bodies was enough. ‘I will never hurt you.’ Waverly stared out of the porch placing her hands on the wooden rail for balance. Her heart was racing at the feel of Nicole’s body so close to hers again. She was no longer afraid but could not rid her mind of what she was learning. ‘From the moment I saw you, I knew I had to protect you… I knew… I lo…’

‘How?’ Waverly cut her off again turning round to look up into the vampire’s eyes. ‘Why did you find me?’

 

_2016_

Launching herself onto the floor in the alley, Nicole snatched at the rat as it squirmed out of her reach. Starving and weak, she watched through despairing eyes as it ran away into the mist and dark of the city night. Filthy, hungry and isolated she looked down at the floor and wondered if there was any point in getting up. Once again, images of the torture she had exacted on others flashed into her mind. Beneath her the wet concrete was a gift compared to the throbbing guilt in her head.

‘Oh man… look at you…’ At the sound of the pitying Irish voice, Nicole somehow clambered to her feet to see a short man standing before her. ‘Even more of a mess that I saw in my vision.’

Dressed in a scruffy green coat, worn out black jeans and boots, her dull red hair tied back in a messy, greasy ponytail, Nicole looked at the man suspiciously, ‘who are you?’

The man put the cigarette in his hand between his lips then held out his right hand, ‘I’m Doyle… nice to meet you Nicole…’ Nicole only looked at his hand but did not move. ‘Yeah, I get that… I wouldn’t trust me much either if I were you…’

‘How do you know who I am?’ Nicole asked bewildered.

‘Ah good question…’ he smiled. ‘Come on… follow me and I’ll tell you a tale…’ Sensing that this man was harmless, dressed in a brown leather jacket, vibrant shirt and blue trousers, Nicole wrapped her coat tightly around her and followed Doyle out into the street. ‘You see, I get visions… which are mind blowing, head exploding headaches with pictures from The Powers That Be.’

‘The Powers That Be?’

Doyle stopped and gestured to the sky, ‘the forces that govern this world… almightier than God, depending what you believe.’ He continued walking with Nicole in tow. ‘They showed me a vision of you, who you were and where I could find you. They didn’t say anything else, but that I needed to help you. I was in LA at the time, so you can imagine my annoyance that I had to come all the way over here to New York to find you.’ He spotted a small shop and headed straight for it. ‘It’s very annoying when they show me these things and not what I’m supposed to do… but then on the train over here, I got another vision telling me how I needed to help you… which is really strange.’ Just in front of the door to the shop, Doyle turned to look at Nicole. ‘They told me that this is really important.’ To Nicole’s annoyance he didn’t say anymore and entered the shop heading straight to the back to the alcohol section.

As they entered, Nicole dodged the few people inside awkwardly. Their necks screamed out to her as her famished body continued to tremble. She diverted her eyes, due to the wrench of her soul within her chest.

‘Important?’ she asked Doyle watching him peruse the many bottles of straight spirits. He picked one and went quickly to pay for it so they could continue their conversation outside on the street. He opened the bottle and swigged from it. He offered it to Nicole, she refused only hungry for one thing. ‘We need to get you some blood don’t we?’ She looked at him ashamed but a little relieved. ‘Come on…’

 

Doyle watched a little concerned as Nicole gulped down the cup of pigs blood that her new friend had just acquired from the butchers on the corner. In a matter of seconds the entire cup had been devoured. She leaned back against the wall as she felt it fill every part of her empty body. It wasn’t human blood, so didn’t have the same satisfying effect but Nicole no longer searched for that and the pigs blood was enough. It was the best meal she had had in weeks.

‘Living off rats is no living my friend,’ Doyle stated as Nicole wiped her mouth. ‘Any butchers will hook you up with this stuff and it’ll keep you in shape.’ Doyle looked the sorry state up and down slowly. ‘How long has it been since you got your soul?’

‘A hundred and nine years,’ Nicole replied.

‘Jesus…’ Doyle almost laughed. ‘And in all that time this is what you’ve been doing, living on the streets eating rats.’ Nicole looked away. She knew it was a pathetic existence. ‘Well… I’m about to change all that. How about instead of just existing, you begin to put right all of the things you did wrong?’ To this Nicole looked very interested and pushed herself off the wall. ‘There’s a place called Purgatory in which a girl will soon need your help.’

‘Who is she?’

Doyle smiled, ‘someone very special… the slayer…’

‘The slayer?’

To this Doyle looked surprised, ‘you haven’t heard of the slayer?’

‘Of course I have,’ Nicole corrected gently. ‘You’re not a vampire for 224 years and not hear of the slayer. I’m just not sure how I can help her…’

‘You will… my vision showed me,’ Doyle told her. His attention then returned to her appearance. ‘But first… we have to sort this out.’ He gestured up and down her body. ‘When was the last time you had a shower?’ Nicole pondered the question and it was clear she did now know the answer. Doyle rolled his eyes, ‘come on…’ He began to walk down the street into the night. Nicole did not move for a moment, dubious as to what she was getting into. But as she stood there and flashes of her past, her kills and the thought of her current existence came into her mind, she grasped at the fact, she had nothing to lose. She was already nothing.

 

‘But you came here to find Wynonna?’ Waverly asked her eyes still burning into Nicole’s.

Nicole nodded simply gazing back, ‘I thought she was you.’ Waverly looked confused. ‘Doyle described the slayer as a sixteen year old with long brown hair, a slight figure and who lived in Purgatory. So I came here, saw you and thought you were her. From watching you for a few days, it became clear that you weren’t the slayer, she actually hadn’t arrived yet, but by that time…’ she risked bringing her hand up to Waverly’s face, placing her thumb carefully and softly on Waverly’s cheek. ‘… I already knew what my duty was.’

Waverly swallowed at the touch of Nicole’s thumb against her skin, ‘duty?’

‘To protect you… always…’ she whispered.

Their faces were now inches apart and Waverly couldn’t stop it. ‘But… but what about Wynonna?’

‘She’s the slayer and she’s your friend, so she’ll always be important to me too…’ at Waverly’s allowance of her thumb on her cheek, Nicole placed more of her hand against Waverly’s skin so she was cupping the young girl’s face. ‘… but I’ll always put you first…’

The feel of Nicole’s cold hand against her cheek caused Waverly to flinch, but only for a moment. The vampire’s words were so perfect, so caring and Waverly was melting into them. She closed her eyes and pushed her face a little harder into Nicole’s hand. Despite its chilled feel, it was comforting and still had more effect on her than any touch of Perry’s ever did. Nicole watched Waverly’s every movement intensely, trying to read what Waverly was feeling. She was surprised that she was able to stand so close and be lucky enough to feel Waverly’s warmth in her palm. She was not going to disturb this moment with any unwanted movements or actions. Waverly would lead and she would follow.

Gradually, Waverly glanced up from Nicole’s hand to meet her eyes once again. The human’s eyes flickered between the vampire’s eyes and lips, clearly enticed by them once again. Nicole waited, desperate for Waverly to close the gap between them. She could still feel the delicious memory of Waverly’s previous kisses lingering on lips and longed to feel it again.

Taking a small step forward, Waverly moved to do just that. Pulled in by Nicole’s beauty, she leaned up to connect their lips. Nicole closed her eyes waiting for the blissful caress. However, as Waverly felt the cold tip of Nicole’s nose against her cheek she found herself pull back before their lips could touch. ‘I can’t…’ She lowered her head and took a step back. Nicole just watched her saddened. ‘I’m sorry…’ When she lifted her gaze again, the despondent look on Nicole’s face caused Waverly’s heart to also break a little. ‘I need time… Nicole…’ She moved back towards her front door once again, not taking her eyes of Nicole as the vampire nodded dejectedly understanding. ‘I need time…’

As Waverly placed her hand on the door handle, Nicole forced herself to smile to reassure Waverly, ‘I’ll wait…’ She said softly. The considerate words caused Waverly to pause at the door so she could drink in Nicole again. It was overwhelming that her feelings for the vampire might have been as strong as Nicole’s were for her, but it was bewildering and too much. Somehow she was able to tear her eyes off Nicole to enter the house and lock the door behind her.


	7. The Harvest

 

Slumped into one of Shorty’s sofas, Waverly and Wynonna were not the picture of two teenagers out to enjoy themselves on a Friday night. Leaning back into the cushions arms across their chests, in silence they stared ahead at the bustling crowd of the usual faces. To any outsider it would have looked like they had had an argument, not that either of them just simply did not want to talk about what had happened to them in the last few days. It was easier not to.

Carefully carrying three drinks, Jeremy appeared through the crowd and went over to the sorry pair. He rolled his eyes at the sight of them and realised there was only one thing to do. He moved his body between them and wiggled down forcing them to make room so he could sit down. It was a squeeze but all three of them just about managed to fit on the small black sofa.

‘Now… take a beverage, of the disappointing non-alcohol kind I know, but still… take a drink and at least toast the arrival of the weekend,’ he held his up once the girls had taken theirs. Waverly and Wynonna just looked at each other and slumped back again. They had nothing to toast to. ‘Oh come on you guys…’ He leant back so their faces were no longer behind his back. ‘Waverly I know the woman you had feelings for turned out to be a vampire and Wynonna the guy you had feelings for turned out to be a fire breathing demon… but… things could be worse…’ From the looks on their faces, he suddenly wished he hadn’t spoken.

Waverly sat bolt upright glaring at him, ‘Dolls nearly burnt the slayer to a cinder…’

‘And he ruined my favourite jacket,’ Wynonna sulked. She wasn’t wearing it that evening as she had left it with her mother praying the woman could work some magic. She had said it had got in the way of a Science experiment at school. It wasn’t the best explanation due to the extent of the damage on the jacket but it was all she could think of at the time. Her mother hadn’t pressed any further so she assumed it had worked.

‘See… that’s pretty bad,’ Waverly pointed out. ‘It’s a nice jacket.’

‘Thank you,’ Wynonna said appreciative.

‘You’re welcome,’ Waverly smiled before slumping back again.

‘And Nicole’ Wynonna went on wanting to continue their argument against Jeremy. ‘… well she nearly…’ she paused and looked at Waverly. ‘… did she nearly kill you?’

Waverly sighed, ‘no… she didn’t… but she’s still a demon.’

‘But a demon with a soul?’ Jeremy asked.

‘Yes…’ Waverly glanced over at them both as if looking for help. ‘A very pretty demon with a soul.’

‘She is hot,’ Wynonna agreed.

‘See, it’s not as bad as you think!’ Jeremy cried happily. Waverly had brightened a little at the thought.

‘Mine still is…’ Wynonna stated. ‘I don’t know if Dolls has a soul or is part human or whatever. The Initiative won’t tell me anything.’

‘Do you really like him?’ Waverly asked.

Wynonna thought for a moment. ‘I don’t know, we only had maybe a half of a first date before he tried to roast me alive… but maybe…’ she looked a little pensive all of a sudden. ‘There was something.’

‘Look at least you guys have love lives,’ Jeremy interjected trying to help. ‘I don’t have any demons watching me from the shadows or chasing me through graveyards as potential love interests. At least your lives are interesting in that way…’ He looked at them hoping for a positive reaction but there was none. Instead he received just more glares. ‘Okay no… we don’t want any demons at all… gotcha…’

Once again, all three of them sat slumped back staring blankly ahead of them. Now Jeremy had been pulled in the girls’ melancholy mood as his mind turned to the lack of love interest in his life. Now there were three making up the sorry sight on the sofa.

 

‘Yeah I’m going to walk…’ Waverly said with a wave.

‘You sure?’ Wynonna asked. ‘You’re getting good at the fighting but it only takes one…’ She was heading in an opposite direction with the strict instructions to do at least a few hours patrolling.

‘I’ll be fine…’ Waverly reassured her. She knew she would be because Waverly could feel Nicole already. She watched Wynonna complete her walk of the street and disappear around the corner before she turned around and looked into the shadows. ‘What part of this is giving me space?’

Caught, Nicole melted out of the shadows and into the streetlight, ‘I’m sorry… I’ve tried to stay away.’ She kept her distance as she gazed at Waverly.

‘Do you know how hard it is… to feel you all the time?’ Waverly said a little angrily. ‘It’s suffocating.’

Nicole hung her head contritely, ‘do you want me to go?’

Waverly didn’t know what she wanted. She looked Nicole up and down. ‘No… I need you to walk me home.’ She began a quick pace that passed Nicole and continued down the road. With the briefest smile, Nicole let her pass then began following Waverly a few steps behind. Waverly stopped finding it strange. ‘That’s just weird… and a little unnerving,’ she commented turning round.

Gesturing exasperated with her arms, Nicole just stared at the irritated girl, ‘Waverly, what am I supposed to do?’ She asked. ‘You say you want me to leave you alone, then you say you want me to walk you home so I do but I give you space and then you’re annoyed by that. I don’t remember being this confusing when I was seventeen.’

‘Things were probably a little clearer when you were seventeen,’ Waverly argued.

‘Nope… I was getting drunk and trying to avoid my father… trust me, they were confusing.’

Waverly regarded her, remembering the pain that Nicole had suffered over the years, ‘I want to trust you.’ Nicole took this as a signal that she could step a little closer, but as soon as she did, Waverly stepped back. ‘But then I remember what you are…’

‘I would never hurt you Waverly… ever…’ Nicole’s face was stern and serious as she spoke. ‘This soul won’t let me and even more, how I feel about you won’t let me.’

‘You barely know me Nicole…’

An adoring smile made its way onto Nicole’s mouth, ‘I know enough… and I would love to know more…’

In truth Waverly felt the same, but the memories of what Nicole had told her were still too raw and bewildering, ‘I still need time...’

Nicole laughed, a sad ironic laugh, ‘time I have…’

Being technically dead, Nicole would never age, just as she hadn’t for 225 years, a thought that caused Waverly to hesitate before she spoke. It reminded her of the stark truth. ‘I’m going to walk home okay… please don’t follow me.’

‘Waverly… it’s not safe…’ Nicole protested.

‘That’s why it’s handy to have the slayer on speed dial… I’ll be fine…’ She shot Nicole a pleading look, one which Nicole could only obey. Despite everything inside her longing to follow she had to respect Waverly’s request and could only watch as Waverly disappeared down the road. Unable to watch any longer, she turned to make her way back towards Shorty’s and where she had parked her car but her way was blocked by a very unwelcome smirking face.

‘Oh man… I don’t know what’s more pathetic,’ Shae snarled. ‘The fact you love a human or the fact that a human just turned you down…’ Nicole’s face turned from dejected to seething in a matter of seconds. ‘They really did break you when they gave you that soul.’ She walked forward and placed her hand over Nicole’s chest. Nicole watched but did not move. Keeping her hand on Nicole’s body, Shae began to circle her tauntingly. ‘You were so perfect with me, so impressive, so powerful… the monster you were was legend throughout our travels…’ She laughed cruelly. ‘Do you think anyone is revering you now?’ She stopped in front of Nicole to see the effect of her words.

‘The kind of things that worshipped you and I have no meaning to me now,’ Nicole stated her hands clenched down by her sides.

‘Just as you to them,’ Shae looked over Nicole’s shoulder her eyes following the path that Waverly had just taken. ‘It seems there’s only one thing that matters to you now… such a waste of a pretty face that harnesses such power.’ She stepped in their bodies close. ‘Together we should be picking the flesh off her bones…’

Spurned by the words, Nicole reached over to a picket fence of the house next to them. She pulled one of the stakes out of the ground and smashed it against her leg to create a sharp shard of wood. Grabbing Shae by the collar, she held the other vampire tightly and thrust the stake towards her chest but stopped just above her skin to hold it hovering over her heart. ‘You go anywhere near Waverly and I’ll…’

Shae only began to cackle at the words, ‘do what?’ she asked. ‘Kill me? You can’t kill me… I made you.’

Nicole blinked at the truth but shook herself to regain her focus, ‘that doesn’t matter now…’

‘Over a hundred years between us, seeing and tearing up the world, devouring each other and all in our path, we loved each other Nicole… you would see an end to all of that?’ She was not bothered at all by the stake that pressed into her skin.

‘You abandoned me, after I got my soul, you threw me out onto the street… that is not love. You cannot feel love!’

For the first time, Shae looked genuinely hurt by Nicole’s words. She reached up and stroked her hair and cupped her face, ‘oh I loved you Nicole. I threw you out because I knew you weren’t the creature I loved anymore. I was angry that they had taken you from me. I never stopped loving you… I have missed you so much my love…’ Seeing Nicole weak before her she tried to take her moment, leaning in to bring their lips together. But disgusted, Nicole pushed her away dropping the stake between them.

‘You… are incapable of real love…’ Nicole stated again before sending Shae one more glare and running off down the road.

Shae watched her go showing the tiniest hint of humanity on her face hurt by Nicole’s words. However this disappeared quickly as the vampire was unable to feel true regret or sadness. She bent down and picked up the stake that Nicole had dropped. ‘You wait my love… soon I’ll show you what I’m capable of…’

 

‘Argh! Why isn’t she here!?’ With a roar, Bobo picked up another candlestick with his powers and flung it across the cave. Some of the vampires gathered around ducked just in time as it whistled past their heads. ‘Doesn’t she know how important she is?’ Bringing his hand to his head in his distress, Bobo walked over to his chair and collapsed down into it. All around him the vampires didn’t dare to move, too afraid of what he would do if one of them angered him further.

‘Oh my love,’ they left that task to Willa who slunk in from one side. He didn’t seem to respond to her as she brushed her hand across his chest. She just stared blankly ahead. ‘She’s a whimsy thing, likes to come and go, but she knows her importance to you.’

‘Then she should be here!’ Bobo snapped looking at her. ‘Safe with you and me.’

‘I know,’ Willa agreed pouting a little. She traced her fingers up his chest to his neck and into his beard. He closed his eyes at the touch allowing it to soothe him a little. ‘But someone in this town still holds meaning to her and she seems a little preoccupied with her lately.’

‘She needs to put Nicole out of her mind, their relationship is gone… it’s disgusting how Shae pines after her,’ his eyes were soft now as he looked into Willa’s.

Willa was delighted she had managed to calm him, ‘she’s a fool in love…’ Willa stated. ‘Unrequited, it’s so sad.’

‘That’s why I want to elevate her, give her new meaning. She is the one who will set me free,’ Bobo argued.

This caused Willa to giggle enraptured, ‘I know, it’s so exciting.’ She kissed him hungrily. ‘Just think of it… you and me, up there again, crushing the world in our hands… making it ours.’

‘It will be glorious,’ he picked her up and replaced her on the seat as he stood up. Placing his hands on the arms either side of her he towered over her looking down as she beamed up. ‘But my love… it’ll only if she is here.’ Willa’s face dropped as his eyes glowed red. Furious, he turned to his vampires. ‘Find her!’

 

As the afternoon grew late, some of the lucky students were able to escape out of the door to their homes and their lives. Some would have basketball practise, others music lessons, lives that Wynonna had reluctantly accepted would never be hers. Instead, she was in attendance in the library, a place that was becoming a second home.

‘The Harvest?’ Wynonna frowned as Nedley brought out another book and placed it on the table.

‘Isn’t that a good thing? Where people bring food for the poor and there’s religious festivals and stuff?’ Jeremy asked.

‘No… it’s not good!’ Nedley called from his office.

‘Not good that people bring food for the poor?’ Waverly exclaimed a little shocked.

Exasperated, Nedley dropped a heavy book onto the table causing them all to jump back, ‘no… this Harvest is not good.’ He said keeping back his frustration. ‘This is a Harvest where people die and Bobo gets the chance to rise from the underworld and maybe destroy this town and the world.’

The group fell into silence for a moment, ‘I like the one with the food…’ Jeremy stated sitting down and opening his laptop.

‘We need to find out everything we can. I’ve been alerted by the Council that it is coming. The only problem is, we don’t know where, we don’t know how and we don’t know when.’

‘We don’t really know anything then do we?’ Wynonna scoffed. ‘Thanks Council… may as well have told us nothing. Do they actually do anything? Or just sit around and drink tea?’

Nedley ignored the comment, ‘what we do know is that it is soon and that it involves a ritual with a vessel. This vessel allows Bobo to break through the barrier that is keeping him trapped in the underworld. And trust me… he’s much better off down there. We do not want him up here.’

‘Oh don’t you worry…’ Waverly commented. ‘Wynonna and I know. We got a taste of how bad he is.’

‘So this vessel?’ Jeremy asked as he typed skilfully into his laptop. ‘Any idea what it is?’

Nedley removed his glasses and scratched his head, ‘no… no I don’t.’

‘Is it a person?’ Jeremy went on.

‘No idea.’

‘An object?’

‘Again… no idea…’ Nedley sighed.

‘So it could be anything?’ Jeremy went on his fingers suddenly still as they had no clue what to type.

‘Yep, absolutely anything,’ Nedley admitted looking as lost as the three teenagers in front of him.

‘Looking for an unknown vessel in an unspecified ritual which we have no idea where it’s going to take place or when?’ Nedley just looked at him unimpressed. Jeremy returned to his laptop. ‘Google, I hope you’re up for a challenge…’

 

As night fell over the library, Jeremy found himself yawning over his dimming laptop and Wynonna drooping her head over the latest book that lay open in front of her on the table. The only person still busying himself as alert as the moment he woke up that morning was Nedley as he scuttled from bookshelf to bookshelf in his office cross referencing book after book bookmarking the pages that held any clue.

At the table, Jeremy shook himself awake and in doing so noticed Wynonna’s dropping head. Before him lay a pad of paper, he ripped out a piece, scrunched it into a ball and threw it at the slayer. It was the perfect hit, right on the forehead. Its effect was instant. Blinking a little startled, Wynonna raised her head and looked over at the sheepish Jeremy. He gestured that they should be researching and not sleeping. Nodding reluctantly, Wynonna adjusted her position and pulled the book onto her lap trying to take in the words. Pleased with his efforts, Jeremy turned back to his laptop and took a long swig of coffee, only to be horrified that it was cold.

Further into the library the final member of the group worked solo at her task, looking through old magazines and newspapers for stories referencing what Nedley had described. Usually so diligent at her research, Waverly had found herself leaning back against one of the bookshelves and her eyes falling heavy and closed. The exhaustion too great, she decided not to fight it and allow her body some much needed rest.

 

_‘You should be working,’ the voice was sweet and soft in her ear._

_Waverly didn’t move as her eyes flickered open, she knew who it was that sat beside her, ‘you shouldn’t be here…’_

_A smile spread over Nicole’s mouth as it came closer to Waverly’s neck, ‘do you want me to go?’_

_‘No…’ Waverly admitted. Still sitting against the bookshelf, she felt the tender touch of Nicole’s fingers in her hair. They swept it aside gently to reveal more of the skin on her neck. Waverly felt her heart pound in her chest almost unbearably. At the feel of Nicole’s lips against her skin, she closed her eyes again at the heavenly caress. The kisses were light, almost intangible, but it was enough for Waverly’s senses to stand on end._

_‘I miss you…’ Nicole whispered as she placed another kiss near Waverly’s ear._

_It was a feeling that was fully returned by Waverly. Without opening her eyes, the human turned her head so she could find Nicole’s lips. She knew it was a dream as Nicole’s lips were warm as hers found them. Soft and supple they had perfect give as she engulfed them tenderly. Loving the warmth of Nicole’s touch, Waverly moved her hands to Nicole’s neck to feel the heat of the vampire’s skin against her palms._

_Carefully, Nicole shrugged off her black leather jacket letting it fall silently onto the carpeted floor. Underneath she wore only a sleeveless black top, something which Waverly took advantage of immediately, running her hands up and down Nicole’s toned arms. Nicole desired more as well. She reached her hands forward to the buttons of Waverly’s shirt, but paused catching Waverly’s eye as they parted for a moment. With a wistful smile, Waverly ran her hand over Nicole’s forehead and nodded subtly. Connecting their lips again, Nicole slowly undid Waverly’s shirt and pulled it off her shoulders. Waverly helped its final removal and cast it away beside them. The white strap top beneath revealed just a little more skin, enough to appease Nicole’s desires._

_‘I’m supposed to be working,’ Waverly breathed in between kisses, giggling slightly._

_A laugh escaped Nicole’s lips as she kissed Waverly again, ‘do you want me to stop?’_

_‘No… please don’t…’ After shaking her head, Waverly lay back pulling Nicole with her. Nicole looked surprised for a moment but this was soon lost as she bit her lip and lowered her body down onto Waverly’s. A soft gasp left Waverly’s mouth as Nicole did so. The feeling of their bodies connecting was incredible._

_Spurned by Waverly’s reaction, Nicole braced herself by her arms and slowly lowered herself down so she could begin to kiss Waverly’s neck once again. Waverly closed her eyes as her hands found Nicole’s sides just where the material of her top ran out at her black jeans. The skin there was also warm to the touch. She found herself licking her lips as Nicole continued to place soft kisses up her neck to her jaw line._

_‘You know… I could eat you up…’ came Nicole’s voice with the hint of a growl. At the sudden change of tone, Waverly’s eyes flew open. ‘And you know what… I think I will…’ Nicole’s face appeared above her and it wasn’t human. Morphed into its vulgar vampire form, fangs exposed it snarled down at the helpless human. Nicole’s fingers enclosed themselves around Waverly’s neck pinning her down before Nicole brought her mouth to Waverly’s neck. Waverly cried out as the teeth pierced her skin…_

‘Waverly…’

She lurched up gasping and clenched onto the hand that was shaking her. Breathing deeply, clearly shaken, she caught her breath as she looked up into Nedley’s kind eyes.

‘What were you dreaming of?’ Nedley asked both his hands on Waverly’s arms trying to steady her. Too mortified, Waverly covered her face with her hands.

From behind them, Wynonna came charging up the stairs having heard Waverly’s cry as she was woken, ‘is everything okay?’ She looked at Nedley first, then at Waverly who rocked still sitting on the floor. ‘Waves?’

At Wynonna’s voice, she looked up and met her friend’s eyes, ‘I was dreaming of her…’ she said the tears visible as she spoke.

‘Her?’ Nedley asked stepping back to give Waverly room.

Wynonna went to Waverly’s side wrapping an arm around her troubled friend, ‘it might help if he knows.’ Waverly looked unsure. ‘He might be able to answer some of your questions.’

The uncertainly was clear on Waverly’s face, but the torment of the reoccurring dreams was becoming a little too unbearable. She wiped her eyes and looked up at the patient librarian, ‘Nicole…’ she said quietly.

‘Nicole?’ he frowned.

‘Red hair, beautiful smile…’ Waverly went on. But then her face dropped. ‘Vampire…’

She was worried about his reaction but he only looked curious, ‘Nicole… now why does that sound familiar…’ He removed his glasses and began biting of their arms deep in thought. Suddenly he stopped and whirled back to face Waverly and Wynonna, ‘red hair, face like an angel… that type of vampire?’ Waverly only nodded which caused Nedley to fly back down the short flight of stairs towards his office. Waverly and Wynonna shared bewildered looks before climbing to their feet and following him. As they reached the bottom, Nedley reappeared with a book in his hands his fingers following the words as he read. ‘Nicole, born in 1768 then at twenty four years old made into vampire form. For over one hundred years she and her sire wreaked pain and misery all over the world until she was then given a soul in 1907 by Romanian gypsies and hasn’t really been heard from since. The thought it due to her soul she stopped killing and went into hiding.’ He looked up completely stunned. ‘Is that her?’

Waverly was too shocked to move, silenced by some of the words Nedley had read. Wynonna took the lead, ‘yes… Nedley that’s her.’

Nedley was clearly delighted, ‘I read about her years ago, I thought she was a myth. And she’s here… here in Purgatory?’

‘Yes,’ Waverly managed to answer her face remaining downcast.

The rest of the details began to catch up with him, ‘and you’ve been dreaming of her?’ this puzzled him.

Waverly looked awkwardly at Wynonna. She merely hinted that she may as well reveal the truth. ‘Yes… for a few nights now.’

‘Can I ask why? What are the dreams about?’

Now Waverly looked ashamed. She looked Wynonna for help. Wynonna usually wasn’t one for being brilliant at being delicate, but she knew that this was the time to try, ‘they’ve been… um… seeing each other…’ she cringed knowing this might be lost on Nedley. It was.

‘Seeing each other?’

‘Yes like… you know… going out…’ Wynonna was really struggling.

Nedley was still lost, ‘going out?’

It was too painful for Waverly to allow it to continue, ‘I like her Nedley…’ she interjected. ‘Like, as more than a friend.’

Nedley’s eyebrows completely changed their position from furrowed to raised, ‘oh…’ once again he removed his glasses surprised. ‘Oh… I see… like um… instead of a boyfriend you… and you and her are… ’

‘Oh Nedley stop talking…’ Wynonna warned him.

Nedley did so, looking a little frazzled. ‘You freaked?’ Waverly asked nervously watching his every expression.

His eyebrows still raised in surprise he replaced his glasses. He allowed his shock to linger for another moment then his face softened and he smiled at Waverly, ‘no… not at all.’ He placed a reassuring hand on her arm. ‘But clearly you are? And I’m sensing it’s not much to do with her gender?’

Waverly nodded, ‘I have feelings for a vampire Nedley… strong feelings, confusing feelings… feelings with bad bad dreams… so sometimes, not very nice feelings!’

‘Well… my dear… usually I would say, get out of there and what do you think you are doing young lady… but…’ Waverly’s eyes followed him as he crossed the room and took a seat at the table near him. Behind him, Jeremy slept soundly at his laptop. ‘She has a soul.’

Waverly and Wynonna made the same journey across the room and joined him at the table, ‘but what does that mean?’ Waverly asked needing to know more.

‘It means, she can feel.’ Nedley told her. ‘She can feel remorse, guilt, sadness, happiness… everything we humans can feel. It means she has conscience.’ He looked at Waverly carefully. ‘It means she can fall in love.’ The words caused Waverly’s heart to flutter. She had heard similar from Nicole, but hearing them from Nedley made them more real, more believable. Nedley saw Waverly’s face brighten and felt that he had to go on with what else he had to say. ‘All these things are good Waverly, it means she should never physically hurt you and according to that book, she hasn’t since the day she got her soul. However… she is still a vampire and a demon. She is still technically dead… and despite her soul, she cannot live as a human.’

The enjoyable flutter that had entered Waverly’s chest disappeared immediately. She looked up from her hands and met Nedley’s concerned eyes. ‘Thank you,’ she said it genuinely as he had brought some clarity to her mind, but it did not ease the confusion in it also. Pushing her chair back she made a quick exit out of the library. After shooting Nedley an annoyed glance, Wynonna crossed the floor quickly to follow her.

Just outside the door, Wynonna managed to catch her and pulled her back gently by her arm, ‘hey…’ Waverly turned. She was crying. ‘Look… Nedley was just trying to help…’

‘I’m not upset with Nedley,’ Waverly stated.

‘I know…’ Wynonna smiled sympathetically at her friend and pulled her in for a tight embrace. ‘Listen, Nicole is good. Just remember that. She clearly cares about you and that is only a good thing.’

Nodding, Waverly pulled out of the embrace, ‘I just… I have a lot to think about.’

‘Well… come back in, sit by me and I’ll help keep you awake so you don’t have any more of those dreams okay…’ She threaded her arm through Waverly’s as they made their way back towards the library door. ‘We’ve still got this damn Harvest thing to prepare for… that should be suitably distracting.’

 

The next morning, Jeremy, Wynonna and Waverly moved through the crowd as if in a daze. Completely exhausted from a night of researching and very little sleep they felt as if their existence wasn’t quite real. Everyone else around them look relatively fresh faced and had no idea of the impending danger they could all be in. As they passed through one of the corridors, something caught Waverly’s eye. A poster was pinned to one of the school’s notice boards. She reached up and took it down. OCTOBER FEST 2017, SHORY’S FROM 8PM.

‘Oh don’t even bother…’ came a cruel voice. The three looked up from the poster to see Mercedes as her gang looming over them. ‘That will be way too cool for you.’

‘Does it need an invite?’ Wynonna shot back.

Mercedes look a little stumped for a moment just adjusted quickly, ‘no invite needed, but you’ll hardly be welcome. Freaks always bring down the tone of a party.’

Waverly looked at the poster and saw who the organiser was, ‘with you as the organiser Mercedes, trust me… the tone is already pretty low.’ Her voice shaking slightly, Waverly kept her face cool. She threw the poster in Mercedes face and went to walk away.

‘We’ll be there,’ Wynonna spat before following her friend.

‘I wouldn’t…’ Mercedes called after them. ‘No one wants you to be!’

Ignoring Mercedes cries and her gangs incessant giggles, Wynonna caught up with Waverly who was trying to gather herself, ‘hey… you okay?’ she pulled her back so she and Jeremy could see her properly.

‘Was I ever that awful?’ Waverly asked. ‘I mean… really?’

Wynonna was stuck having not known Waverly as part of the group for long enough, but smiling Jeremy stepped forward, ‘you never belonged to them Waverly because you were never as nasty as they are.’ He brought her in for a hug. ‘You never turned on me… ever.’ Waverly closed her eyes and hugged him close. Wynonna looked on warmed by the sight. A friendship that started as youngsters and should have been made to be secret. ‘You’re where you belong now Waves….’

‘Yes, and we belong in the library,’ Wynonna said catching the time on the outside clock. ‘Come on before Nedley blows a fuse about this damn Harvest thing.’ Jeremy nodded and let go of Waverly to follow her. Before catching up Waverly looked back and caught the eye of Perry. His longing look caused her heart to lurch. Apart from their brief texts, they had still barely spoken. She had been so completely wrapped up in her thoughts and dreams of Nicole. She knew what she had to do, she was too afraid to do it. If she was still dating a human then it meant she didn’t have feelings for a vampire. The latter being just too terrifying to comprehend.

 

Like a sulking teenager having been caught out past curfew, Shae stomped back into the cave having been dragged through the tunnel by Bobo’s vampires. In his chair, Bobo glowered like an unimpressed father wondering what punishment to enact for Shae’s insolence.

‘You were not supposed to leave this cave,’ he said slowly and deliberately.

She groaned, ‘I only went out to…’

‘I don’t care!’ Bobo roared rising from his chair. It caused Shae to recoil back. Bobo closed his eyes and calmed himself down. ‘You are too precious and we are too close.’ He said with a softer tone. ‘You are my chosen one and I only care for you because of how important you are to me.’

‘Exactly… hardly heroic stuff,’ Shae spat.

Bobo sneered at this, ‘I hardly claim to be a selfless man…’ he put his hands out as if posing at the end of a musical number. ‘Just remember my girl what this is going to do for you.’ He stepped forward bringing his face close to hers. ‘It will elevate your power, make you stronger, make you connected to me…’ Shae met his eyes as if she had forgotten this fact. ‘… in time I will be able to train you to move objects like I can. Together… with Willa,’ he pointed to the leering vampire near them. ‘… we will be invincible.’

‘Can we cure Nicole?’ Shae asked.

Bobo looked a little irritated by the question, but he ignored this, ‘we can certainly try.’ He looked at some of his vampires that were dressed in black robes. ‘Now, we must prepare!’ They came forward and gently put their hands on Shae, leading her away. She flashed a smile at Bobo who returned to his chair. He looked out at his vampires, admiring them all equally. He focused on two of his largest and strongest. ‘Make sure she does not leave this cave again before tonight.’ They nodded and followed Shae and the others intent on not leaving her side.

 

‘Nothing!’ cried Nedley slamming another book. The others looked at him startled. It wasn’t often that they saw him lose his temper, especially with his books. ‘I’m sorry… we’re just no closer to learning about what this damn Harvest is.’

‘Oh… oh… oh…’ Jeremy said from his laptop.

‘Oh god make that a good oh,’ Nedley begged.

‘Nedley, make the promise never to say that sentence again,’ Wynonna cringed.

‘The Harvest,’ Jeremy read. ‘In myth it is a sacrifice for someone who is trapped. A vessel is offered and blood is poured into it. When enough blood is given, the ritual is complete with some of the usual chanting and cap and the trapped entity is free.’

‘It’s always got to be blood,’ Wynonna sighed.

‘What does it mean by sacrifice?’ Waverly asked.

‘Well considering the vessel needs blood…’ Jeremy started.

‘It ain’t going to be bread and wine…’ Wynonna finished.

‘People… it’s going to involve the sacrifice of people,’ Nedley said sadly. ‘We have to work out when and where this thing is going to take place.’ He looked at them seeing how tired and fed up they looked. ‘I’m sorry, all of you… especially Jeremy and Waverly, I know that this is the last thing you want to be doing on a Saturday night… but this is about saving the world.’

‘It’s okay,’ Jeremy shrugged. ‘Where else would I be? At that stupid party?’ He laughed ironically. ‘Where I would be ridiculed and picked on and maybe used as a human piñata for a while… yeah, so much fun…’

‘I thought it looked like fun,’ Wynonna disagreed gently.

‘Wait?’ Nedley cut in. ‘Party?’

Waverly fumbled about in her bag revealing that she had taken one of the posters down and stowed it away. She unfolded it and handed it to Nedley. He looked it over and his eyes widened.

‘This is it,’ he said his flitting between all of them. ‘Oh my god… this is it.’

‘What is…?’ Wynonna asked as Nedley grabbed one of his books. He cross referenced the date against something hidden deep within the pages. ‘This day in October is one of the blood moons. This ritual requires blood and a previous attempt this rising has happened on this day before. Why didn’t I see that!?’ He slammed his hand down on the table infuriated at himself. However, he calmed himself quickly. ‘We have to get to that party.’

‘Looks like we’re going to a party,’ Wynonna stated to Waverly and Jeremy as she went over to the weapons cabinet in Nedley’s office and began loading up her bag.

A little unwillingly, Jeremy closed his laptop, ‘yay…’

 

The music stopped the instant the door to Shorty’s was kicked in. It splintered the door into pieces as it crashed through some of the young revellers then came to a rest on the floor. Shaken, teenagers picked their friends off the floor, one badly hurt. But those who entered simply laughed at the shock they had caused. Arm in arm, Shae and Willa cruised through the door, followed by a dozen of Bobo’s strongest vampires. They moved into crowd as Shorty’s was plunged into silence.

‘Well well… what have we here?’ Willa asked glancing at all the tasty morsels she passed.

‘People who are in for a treat,’ Shae replied as they moved towards the stage. The vampires that had followed them began to disperse into the crowd. Some making their presence known in the crowd by shoving innocent people towards the dance floor, others barred the doors.

Willa laughed wickedly as she and Shae walked up the steps onto the stage, ‘people…’ Willa cried, but kept her voice soft. ‘You are so lucky. You are going to witness a very special day…’ She let go of Shae’s arm and walked into the spot light. As she did so her face morphed into the demon that she was. All around Shorty’s all the vampires, including Shae, did the same. At the sight, those occupying Shorty’s began to scream. Willa remained calm as she lapped in their terror. ‘Shame it’ll be your last.’

 

‘So… what’s the plan?’ Waverly asked as they all squeezed out of Nedley’s car.

‘First… we get Nedley a bigger car!’ Wynonna exclaimed as she and Jeremy moved to get out of the same door. With a little irritation she pushed Jeremy back in, her strength causing him to almost come out of the window on the other side. ‘Oh… sorry Jeremy…’

‘No worries,’ Jeremy replied putting his hand up as he gathered himself.

Waverly looked at Wynonna exasperated, ‘plan Wynonna… plan!’ Wynonna looked up at the bar. They had arrived at the back, hoping for a stealthy approach, ‘do you think they’re in there?’

Suddenly a scream rang out from inside. The quartet looked at each other with knowing looks, ‘I would say so yes…’ Wynonna concluded. ‘First, we load up… Jeremy!’ As if he knew his place, Jeremy was already heaving over a bag he had retrieved from the boot of Nedley’s car. Once in the middle of the group, they opened it and began taking weapons out. As they did so, the nerves in Jeremy, Waverly and Nedley’s hands showed the inadequacy of the group’s attack. They looked amongst each other and at Wynonna their expressing that they knew the truth. ‘You guys aren’t going in.’

‘What!’ Waverly erupted. She looked at Shorty’s then back at Wynonna. ‘There’s no way you’re going in there alone. Nedley said there could be up to twenty vampires…’

‘I’ve taken on worse Waves,’ Wynonna assured, hiding her true dread. ‘If you three go in, you’ll just be another three humans I have to worry about…’ Waverly looked a little insulted but decided against speaking out. ‘If you see people coming out of that door, what I need you to do is ensure they get out safely and that no vampire follows them. If the vamps come out of that bar, then they’re yours because I can only focus on vessel.’

‘Do you have any idea what the vessel is?’ Jeremy asked. ‘The books were a little ambiguous.’

‘Well they said it was precious and integral to the ritual, I am sure it’ll be easy to find…’ She headed towards the door, but a gentle had on her wrist tugged her back.

She looked back in Waverly’s frightened eyes, ‘be careful okay. If you’re get into any trouble, we’re coming in there to get you.’ Touched by Waverly’s bravery, Wynonna placed her other hand on Waverly’s and gave it a squeeze before using her powers to spring from the ground easily up to the roof on the first floor. Her legs pumped to take her up the sloping roof and into one of the top floor windows.

‘How will we know if she’s in trouble?’ Jeremy asked Waverly.

Waverly glanced at him then headed over towards the back door with her stake and dagger, ‘you don’t really think I’m staying out here do you?’

 

Standing at the edge of the stage, the yellow eyes of her demonic face leered out at the cowering humans now swamped in darkness. Slowly her smile curved into a satisfied sneer as she brought her hands together and clapped like an excited child.

‘Oh don’t you all look so wonderfully frightened…’ her voice turned serious. ‘It’s delicious.’ She looked over her shoulder and beckoned Shae forward. ‘Come my sweet… it’s time to begin.’

She placed Shae in the middle of the stage whilst two other vampires came forward. Holding bowls of already prepared blood they smeared it on her arms before one of them drew a star on her forehead. As they backed away they began to chant some strange words under their breath causing Shae to gasp. She looked down at her arms as she felt heat rise within them and her body surge with power.

‘I can feel it,’ she breathed clenching her fists. ‘I’m ready.’

Willa smirked and looked at one of her vampires down on the dance floor, ‘bring the first.’ As the vampire picked through the crowd searching for the right victim, unknown to them Wynonna had snuck her way through the upper floors and was now silently making her way down to the bar. Finally getting his hands on a young blonde female her grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her up onto the stage. Without hesitation, Shae bent her head sideways and began to drink from her neck. In complete shock, the other humans screamed in horror. Once she was done, Shae let the dead weight of the body fall to the floor with a sickening thud. Down below them, deep in his cave, Bobo convulsed in pleasure as he began to feel the effect of the vessel working. He grinned and reached up begging for more.

As Shae drank from another, Wynonna made her way down the last flight of steps into the bar from upstairs, only to find it blocked by a vampire. Wrapping her hand around his mouth she dragged him back and made quick work of him with her stake. Now that the back way was clear, she began to get the attention of those nearby to usher them out. She gestured desperately that they stay quiet, despite how petrified many of them understandably looked.

‘Another!’ came Shae’s cry, which caught Wynonna’s attention. She checked back over her shoulder to ensure that those she was showing out had reached the back door. They had. Outside, Nedley, Waverly and Jeremy were giving them strict instruction to get as far away from the bar as possible. As Waverly caught a glimpse of Wynonna, she waited for the slayer’s back to be turned before she snuck inside past those pushing to get out.

Moving further into the bar, Wynonna watched in horror as another young body joined the two that were already lying to one side. Underground, Bobo was able to place his hand against the invisible barrier keeping him locked in the cave and it began to tremble at his touch. He laughed malevolently feeling his freedom getting closer. Wynonna continued to usher the teenagers she came across to the bar, until she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder.

‘Now what do we have here,’ muttered a taunting voice. Before she knew it, a foot connected with her stomach sending her sprawling into the middle of the dance floor into the spotlight. Shae was paused from receiving her next victim, blood dripping from her mouth.

‘Oh wow…’ Willa gasped thrilled. ‘What a find…’ Wynonna got up slowly and carefully, not taking her eyes off Willa as the vampire looked down at her from the stage. ‘Oh now this really is a party…’ She raised her arms as if praising Wynonna. ‘The slayer is here!’

‘I think she’s come here to stop us…’ Shae mocked wiping her mouth. ‘But it’s too late, I can already feel his power surging within me.’

Wynonna’s mouth curled into a smile on side, ‘that would make you the vessel then.’

‘Oh… the girl has done her homework,’ Willa grinned in a deranged manner. ‘I’ll give you a B plus.’

‘Good… I’m glad I’m not failing something,’ Wynonna shrugged pretty pleased.

‘You’ll fail at stopping this,’ Shae spat maliciously.

Wynonna studied her as her hands tightened around her stake, ‘what makes you so sure about that?’

Behind her, Waverly moved through the crowd in the shadows. Her heart pounded in her chest as she counted the vampires surrounded Wynonna. Having only been able to stake two, with Willa and Shae included she was still out-numbered by twelve to one. Waverly herself had only ever taken on one vampire at a time and never convincingly. As she hid behind one of Shorty’s wooden pillars, real fear began to overcome her body.

Willa sniggered as she descended the steps to stand face to face with Wynonna. She gestured with her hand for the other vampires to remain back. ‘We’re simply too many my dear… and for all your skills and training, we have years of experience…’

‘I burnt over two hundred of your kind in a gymnasium,’ Wynonna quipped. ‘Nothing is too many.’ Waverly wanted to be buoyed by Wynonna’s words, but still the fear pulsed through her body. She couldn’t even usher any more people out of the bar as there were too many vampires guarding the remaining few.

‘We’ll have to put it to the test then…’ Willa grinned. ‘See how the slayer really does on her own against Bobo’s vampires…’

‘Well that’s the thing,’ Willa spun round at the voice only for a fist to connect with her jaw. It sent her reeling across the dance floor towards one of the other vampires. Wynonna looked up stunned as Nicole joined her in the middle of the dance floor. ‘She’s not alone.’ In the shadows, Waverly was overcome with relief. Nicole turned her back on Wynonna so they could guard each other’s. ‘Hey, how you doing?’

‘I’ve been in better spots…’ Wynonna replied raising her hands ready to fight. ‘You?’

‘Just here to kill vampires.’

‘That’s good. There’s plenty of them!’

As the vampires launched their attack on Nicole and Wynonna, Waverly took the opportunity to get more of the people out of the bar. As feet and hands connected with various parts of their body, vampires flew around the bar crashing into tables and splintering furniture into piles of broken wood. Waverly ducked and weaved as she showed the young men and woman to freedom. Outside, Jeremy and Nedley continued to filter them away from the bar and into the relative safety of the night. Underground, Bobo cried out for Shae to drink more blood, wondering why there was such a delay.

From the floor, Willa struggled to her feet furious at the impertinent interruption. She looked at up Shae and bellowed for her to continue to drink. Spotting this, Wynonna tried to make her way towards the stage but her way was blocked by another vampire that landed a kick right into her chest. She gasped as she flew back and hit one of the wooden pillars. She landed on the floor hard but flipped herself up ready to take him on again.

‘Drink!’ came Willa’s demand again. Waverly spotted that Nicole and Wynonna were too surrounded to save the last victim that was required to free Bobo. After showing the last group to the door, she began to sneak her way round to the stage, stake ready in hand. Out of the corner of her eye, Nicole spotted her. Knowing exactly what she was trying to do, the concern distracted her as she was thumped to the floor by a powerful hand connecting with the side of her face. Angered, Nicole grabbed the hand as it came in for a second and twisted it violently so it snapped. Roaring in pain the vampire bucked to his knees, allowing Nicole to ram a stake deep into his chest. As he burst into dust, Nicole turned towards the stage where Waverly had made it to the steps at the side.

‘Wynonna…’ Nicole asked as the slayer spun and kicked away another vampire. Wynonna looked at her telling Nicole she had the slayer’s attention. ‘The vessel… is it…?’ she couldn’t finished her sentence as once again her distraction had caused her to lower her guard. Groaning at the kick to the back, she hit the floor.

On stage, Shae’s teeth sunk into the young boy’s neck. He winced at the pain but there was nothing he could do. Seeing this, Waverly began to sneak onto the stage. She kept round the edge so that she could move behind Shae. As Shae drank, Bobo once again began to feel her power and reached up to feel the barrier shaking with its final weakness again. As she was on the opposite side to Willa, Waverly’s movements remained unknown to the vampires. Once behind Shae, she raised her stake and prepared to attack. When Waverly was only inches from her target, Shae dropped the boy, spun and caught Waverly by the throat.

‘Well well… what do we have here?’ She held Waverly off the floor causing her to choke as she struggled to breathe. On the floor, with life still in him, the boy held his neck and scrambled away. ‘Oh, see what you did… and he was the last…’ she looked Waverly up and down. ‘Well, I guess you’ll have to do… in fact…’ she glanced at Nicole as the red head tried to defend herself against two vampires at once. ‘… you’ll be perfect.’

On the dance floor, Nicole sent one of the vampires reeling backwards before battering the other to the floor. When she spun, her eyes landed on the horrifying sight on the stage. Due to her rage, Nicole’s face changed into its demonic form as she reached down to pick up a stake. ‘Wynonna?’ she roared. The cry even shocked Wynonna. ‘Is Shae the vessel?’ Battling against her own vampire, Wynonna could only nod. It was enough. Watching as Shae’s open mouth neared Waverly’s throat, Nicole let out a growl as she sprang powerfully onto the stage.

She landed right next to Shae who paused in devouring her meal to look at the seething face of Nicole, ‘you wouldn’t kill me…’ she laughed unafraid. ‘I’m your sire…’

‘No…’ Nicole said shaking her head. ‘You’re my nothing.’ Without another word or hesitation she drove the stake deep into the chest of the stunned Shae. The look of astonishment remained on the doomed vampires face as she crumbled into dust. As she did so, Waverly was dropped as her hand became nothing. Nicole stepped sideways to catch her, holding the human close as she gasped for air. A little shocked at what she had done, Nicole dropped the stake in her hand and wrapped her arms around Waverly.

Down underground, Bobo felt all the promise of his release leave him as the barrier keeping him trapped regained its strength. It sparked and surged sending him reeling back away from it. He collapsed onto the floor screaming out in agony and frustration. In what was left of Shorty’s, Willa stared mortified at where Shae had just stood; now only a pile of dust on the floor next to Nicole’s feet. Suddenly very frightened she called for the remaining three vampires to see her safely out of the building. They ran to her side immediately, leaving their fight with Wynonna. Wynonna was too exhausted to chase them, just relieved to see Waverly safe in Nicole’s arms. From outside, Nedley and Jeremy came running in as all had fallen quiet.

On stage, Nicole lifted Waverly’s head away from her chest, ‘are you okay?’ she stroked Waverly’s face adoringly, checking to see if she was hurt in anyway other than the ugly red mark around her neck where Shae’s hand had been.

Waverly gazed up at her. Nicole’s face was less unblemished with a cut eyebrow and bruised cheek, but to Waverly was still so beautiful. ‘You killed your sire…’

‘I told you… I didn’t love her,’ Nicole smiled. ‘I would kill anyone for you.’ Waverly couldn’t help a laugh escaping her lips. She forgot the dreams that haunted her and confused thoughts that ached in her mind and buried herself in strong comforting arms relishing the huge gesture that Nicole had just made.

Behind them, Nedley and Jeremy looked on as they reached Wynonna’s side, ‘what happened?’

‘The vessel was Shae,’ Wynonna told them. ‘Nicole staked her… ending the ritual.’ A look of pure relief washed over Nedley’s face.

‘Wait… isn’t… well wasn’t Shae Nicole’s sire?’ Jeremy asked.

‘Yep…’ Wynonna nodded.

‘And Nicole staked her…?’ Jeremy looked a little confused knowing from his reading how much sire’s can mean to the vampires they create. A connected that can be stronger than that between a mother and child. Shae’s and Nicole’s was one of the most documented and known of all vampire couples for how long there were together and destruction they wrought.

Wynonna looked at the pair embracing on the stage, ‘Shae was going to kill Waverly.’ Wynonna told them as she turned to walk out of the bar. As the words sunk, Jeremy and Nedley studied the pair just like Wynonna had just done. It began to dawn on them, just how much the vampire in front of them could feel real human emotions. And how much she cared. Nedley gave a little smile and started to follow Wynonna out of the bar. Jeremy remained for a moment as she looked at Waverly’s closed eyes, the girl drinking in the solace in the moment. He too sent them a smile before he joined Nedley and Wynonna outside by the car.

Left alone, Waverly pulled herself away from Nicole again so that she could look up into the vampire’s eyes. There was more clarity in how she was feeling, helped by Nicole’s actions, but still deep in her mind, something was holding her back.

‘I should…’ she gestured to where the others had gone.

Nicole couldn’t help but display her disappointment, ‘oh okay…’ reluctantly she let Waverly slip from her arms.

‘We need to debrief and check that everything is okay… and Bobo is still trapped and…’ Waverly began to babble.

‘Waverly,’ Nicole laughed lightly. ‘It’s okay.’

Waverly stopped at the edge of the stage and looked back, she paused to catch her breath, ‘I won’t forget this,’ she said. Nicole could see a different look in Waverly’s eyes. It showed she was still afraid, still conflicted, but there was something more open about them. They soft and longing. ‘I want you… every moment… every part of me wants you…’ At these words, Nicole stepped forward but Waverly took a step back halting the vampire’s advance. ‘… but it feels wrong.’ She sighed, clearly sad by the admittance and the feeling. ‘I don’t want it to feel wrong Nicole, but it does.’ Unable to look Nicole in the eye any longer, Waverly made her way over to the steps down to the stage.

Before Waverly was able to cross it, Nicole followed her down, ‘Waves…’ Waverly stopped again and looked back. ‘Will it ever feel right?’

Slowly, Waverly smiled, sad but still evident, ‘I hope so.’

 

Leaving Nicole to ponder the words inside the bar, Waverly shook and found herself arriving at a laughing group outside by Nedley’s car.

‘Waves!’ Wynonna cried flinging her arms around her. She then remembered that she was actually annoyed. She broke out of the hug and hit the human hard on the arm. Waverly exclaimed and held her arm stumbling back. ‘That is for nearly getting yourself killed you moron!’

‘I’m sorry!’ Waverly protested still reeling from the pain. ‘I was just trying to help…’

‘I know,’ Wynonna said rolling her eyes. ‘I should know by now how stubborn you are… but please PLEASE listen to me, just once, when I really need to, so you don’t die.’ Waverly nodded and fell into her arms allowing the two to hug warmly.

‘It’s a bit like watching sisters isn’t it?’ Jeremy said to Nedley.

‘My thoughts exactly,’ Nedley agreed.

‘Right!’ Wynonna cried. ‘We need to celebrate… we saved Purgatory and maybe the world tonight, it should not go without a party.’

‘Nice idea…’ Waverly nodded. She then looked stumped. ‘But where?’

‘Good point,’ Jeremy said. ‘We just helped to destroy the old good place in town…’ He pointed at the bar with broken windows and the debris they knew lay inside.

‘Oh yeah…’ Wynonna thought for a moment then brightened. ‘Nedley’s?’

‘Wait what?’ Nedley coughed.

‘Yeah… I bet you have some top booze!’ Jeremy grinned.

‘Hey, there will be no drinking my booze,’ Nedley warned them as he retreated towards his car. Jeremy followed continuing to press about what drink they could enjoy that evening. Waverly and Wynonna looked at each other highly amused before they linked arms and followed the bickering men back to the car. Waverly couldn’t help glance back for a moment, wondering if she would see Nicole standing in the doorway. However there was nothing. Despite the confusion in her mind, her heart knew what she wanted and knew how she was feeling about the vampire. Waverly missed her already.


	8. Witch

Wynonna ignored the glances as she walked through the brightly lit corridors. She was tired of being a celebrity every time she walked through the Initiative. Though she wondered if it was because she was the slayer, or whether it was because she had been on a date with Dolls the night that he had lost control. She had finally received the call from Lucado that she could visit him. It had been at least two weeks and despite the trauma he put her through, she had found that she had been missing him.  
Finally, she reached the door that she had been directed to. No longer being held in the pit with the other demons, Dolls now resided in more of a hospital room. Wynonna peered through the window in the door and saw him sitting in bed reading a magazine. Seeing him calm and refined once again allowed Wynonna to feel more relaxed as she knocked gently on the door and went in.  
Looking over, Dolls instantly smiled when he saw the identity of his visitor, ‘hey…’  
‘Hey,’ Wynonna smiled back, but slightly more guarded. She closed the door behind her and kept her distance for a moment. ‘How are you?’  
‘I’m doing better,’ Dolls replied. He noted the distance between them. ‘You can come closer.’  
Wynonna laughed awkwardly and allowed herself to make her way over. She noticed the drip going into his arm. ‘What have they got you on?’  
Dolls glanced at it then back at Wynonna, ‘the latest cocktail… seems to be working.’  
‘Working on what?’  
‘Keeping it at bay…’  
‘What’s it?’ Wynonna asked carefully.  
Studying her, Dolls realised that Wynonna still didn’t know and he wasn’t sure if he wanted her to. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed, ‘the thing inside me… but ultimately, I am human.’ Wynonna let out a sigh of relief. ‘It’s only a part of who I am. That day in the grave yard, the Initiative have intel that a spell released it. It released it in all demons.’  
‘That explains Nicole…’   
‘Nicole?’  
‘The vampire that fought you…’ Wynonna explained. ‘She’d worked so hard to hide who she was… but the spell brought it out. Like it did with you.’  
‘Well… at least you know now…’ Dolls commented with a slightly flirty smile. ‘I’ll admit it’s not the best first date I’ve ever…’  
‘Dolls…’ Wynonna put her hand up gently to stop him talking. ‘Can we not?’  
Dolls face fell immediately, ‘right… of course.’ It made sense to him that Wynonna would be reeling from what she experienced but it didn’t cause it hurt any less. He coughed into the awkward silence his mind searching for something else that they could talk about. ‘So, you here for long or…’  
‘No… I er… I should be getting to patrol. Lucado wanted me to check in with you, so I have and um…’ she got up and began to back away towards the door. ‘I’ll come and see you soon okay.’  
‘Okay,’ Dolls smiled, but something made him struggle to believe it.  
‘Okay,’ Wynonna flashed him the most believable smile she could, but ultimately she wanted to get out as soon as she could. She had waited so long to see him, but seeing him in the hospital bed on much needed medication caused it to all be too real again and bring back the fear of that night. As a human he was charming, handsome and intriguing, but as she had looked into his eyes, all she had seen was the monster.

The librarian could hear the flicking and rustling of papers. Confused as to the origin of the noise, Nedley left his office keeping his cup of tea in his hand and ascended the stairs towards the back of the library. He noticed that whoever had managed to enter the back room with the locked away books, knew the location of the key. Entering cautiously, Nedley’s eyes fell upon Waverly sitting on the floor surrounded by books. He looked at her with sympathy knowing immediately the reason for her late evening research.  
‘What are you doing Waverly?’ he asked softly entering the room.  
A little startled, Waverly looked up from her book, ‘finding answers,’ she replied.  
‘Are you finding them?’ He knelt down near her seeing that she had the book of old legends open on her lap. It was not a book that any other person would ever read and not the old legends that any other person would recognise.   
‘I don’t know…’ she admitted. ‘These only have half the story…’  
‘The story you don’t want to know,’ Nedley finished. He sat himself down on the floor and leaned back against the wall behind him. ‘I’ve been doing my own research. It’s not an easy read.’ Waverly looked away sadly clutching the book on her lap tightly. ‘She did many bad things.’  
‘So many…’  
‘It’s a shame that there isn’t much on what happened after she got her soul…’ Nedley picked up some of the books and began to pile them up, a librarian’s habit. ‘She’s a different person now.’  
‘That’s just it though Nedley,’ Waverly said despondently. ‘She’s not a person.’  
‘She’s not technically alive no…’ Nedley agreed standing up again. ‘But that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have more humanity in her than some people that are…’ He smiled kindly at the girl sitting so emotionally vulnerable on the floor. ‘I’d say she’s done more good in the past few weeks working with us than a lot of people in this world.’ The words warmed Waverly’s heart as she watched him cross the small room. ‘Make sure you lock up before you leave.’ With another caring smile, Nedley left Waverly to her books. She looked down at the book that was still in her lap and pushed it to one side so it clattered onto the floor. The answers she needed weren’t going to come from books.

The gym teacher walked up and down in front of them like she was a sergeant walking in front of her troops. Hands on hips, she was your stereotypical gym teacher: broad shoulders, short hair, thick arms and the whistle hanging around her neck. To any boy or girl she was probably very imposing but Wynonna knew she could flatten the woman in a second.  
‘Self-defence is one of the most important skills you can learn… even for you boys,’ she added as she heard them sniggering. ‘You think you’re big tough men, but when you’re put in a difficult situation, that is when you really find out what you’re made of… and trust me, real men could flatten you like the worms you are…’  
‘Or real women,’ Wynonna smirked to Jeremy.  
‘Especially the slayer,’ he whispered back.  
‘Oh trust me… it wouldn’t take the slayer to flatten a lot of these guys…’  
‘Earp!’ came the bark from the teacher as she spotted their distraction. ‘I guess you’re the first to set the example…’  
Cracking her hands, Wynonna grinned and went to walk to the front but a strong hand on her arm pulled her back, ‘remember, you’re a normal weak girl,’ Jeremy reminded her.  
Sighing, Wynonna rolled her eyes, ‘ruin my fun…’ With a disappointed drop of the shoulders she made her way to the front and stood next to the teacher. She proceeded to demonstrate with the teacher how to deal with an attack from behind. She had to endure the humiliation of being thrown over the teacher’s shoulders onto the mat landing hard on her back. The rest of the class laughed as she lay sprawled on the floor, most infuriatingly, along with Mercedes and some of her sheep for followers. However, she knew it was necessary. She even feigned that she was in pain.  
‘Right pair up!’ the teacher cried. ‘Wynonna, you’re with Perley.’ Wynonna looked over to an elusive appearing girl who stood crossed arm staring blankly ahead. It was only when her name was called that she snapped into the room. ‘Look alive Perley, you’re with Earp.’  
Mattie did just that as Wynonna approached, ‘guess we’re sparring…’ she smiled.  
‘Guess we are,’ Wynonna nodded. They stood opposite each other a little awkwardly.   
‘So who’s attacking who?’ Mattie asked.  
Wynonna shrugged feeling like the entire activity was a little surreal and that she should have been relieved from it somehow, ‘you can come at me if you want?’  
‘You going to be okay with that?’ Mattie checked.  
‘Guess we’ll find out,’ as Wynonna continued to fake weakness. She turned her back on the other girl and stood read. She had to stand down every instinctual feeling that was flowing through her. Mattie nervously stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Wynonna trying to pull her over. Wynonna brought her hands up to Mattie’s arms and pretended she couldn’t pry them off.  
‘Oh come on Earp, that’s pathetic!’ the teacher called. ‘Put something into it.’ Wynonna felt the eyes of the entire class on her and she reacted impulsively. Before she knew it, Mattie had flown over her shoulder and landed on the gym mat with a horrible thud. There was a gasp from everyone in the room. ‘Jesus Earp… didn’t know you had that in you!’  
Wynonna’s thoughts were instantly on Mattie who lay a little stunned on the floor, ‘oh crap, are you okay?’ She knelt down on the floor next to her as the poor girl caught her breath.  
‘I’m fine,’ she replied almost laughing as she caught her breath and winced. ‘Clean landing… just… might take a little time to get up.’ Letting out a sigh of relief, Wynonna allowed herself to laugh also. ‘That was impressive… where did you learn to do that?’  
Wynonna’s mind searched for an answer, ‘fat… camp.’ She’d panicked.  
‘Fat camp?’ Mattie said raising her eyebrows looking up and down Wynonna’s slight figure.  
‘It was a very effective fat camp…’

Sitting across the desk from each other, Waverly and Perry made awkward eye contact. Waverly could tell he wanted it to linger, but they weren’t the eyes she wanted to look into. With a sigh, Perry ran out of patience and moved to the chair beside Waverly. Gently, he placed his hand on her leg. Waverly simply stared at it then looked up at him prompting him to remove it quickly. He closed his eyes lost.  
‘Tell me what to do Waverly,’ he said. ‘I feel like we’re strangers.’ He looked at her as Waverly just stared at the table in front of her. ‘I feel like I don’t know you anymore.’  
‘I’m not the person you knew,’ Waverly shrugged. In truth, she didn’t know who she was.  
‘How?’ He asked. ‘You’re not giving me a chance to find out… you still seem like my Waverly.’  
‘You’re still hanging around with them Perry,’ Waverly stated a little annoyed. ‘That’s why you’re not finding out.’  
‘I can’t leave them Waves,’ he protested. ‘They’ve been my friends my entire life…’  
Waverly softened and looked up at his kind, conflicted expression, ‘you’re better than them Perry.’  
‘But that’s the world I’m in…’ He continued. ‘As the quarterback, I’m expected to play a role in this school. I can’t just walk away from it. It would probably break the system.’  
‘It’s a stupid system Perry,’ Wynonna snapped. ‘A system ruled by people who probably messed it up to begin with. Anything that hurts people is a broken system Perry… and you being a part of it just doesn’t sit well with me.’  
Perry’s eyes grew sad; she could see he was in pain. ‘I love you Waverly,’ he stressed. ‘This is killing me.’  
She met his eyes, his upset caused her to hurt also, ‘then it’s hurting both of us…’  
There was a long pause before Perry could bring himself to speak, ‘what does this mean?’  
Waverly wondered if she could bring herself to say the words. He wasn’t a bad person. He’d never been unkind to her and he’d been a genuinely lovely boyfriend when it mattered, when it mattered to her. She felt that she couldn’t bring herself to break such a gentle heart, ‘maybe we need a break?’ She knew it wasn’t the right option. She knew she was being a coward.  
‘A break?’  
‘To figure things out,’ Waverly went on hating herself with every word.  
Perry could see that her mind was made up, ‘okay…’ he nodded. There was a hint of tears in his eyes. He got up slowly from his chair. ‘You take as long as you need.’ He tucked it into the table unable to looked at Waverly, but she watched his every move. ‘I’ll always be here for you… I hope you know that.’  
‘I do,’ Waverly assured him. Perry allowed their eyes to meet for just a second more before a weak smile crossed his face and he walked away. Waverly held her breath as she watched him go. He was the last thing of her old life. The last thing reminding her of when things made sense. 

Sitting on the gravestone, Waverly watched as Wynonna skilfully ducked the vampires punch while delivering one of her own to his stomach. Groaning, the vampire stumbled back and with swift and deadly aim she drove her stake deep into his chest. It took only seconds before the vampire was no long before them and just a pile of dust dissolving into the wet grass beneath the slayer’s feet.  
‘Wow,’ Waverly nodded impressed clutching onto the umbrella over her head as light rain feel around them.  
Wynonna’s hood had fallen from her head during the fight, causing her matted to stick to her face and neck as she trudged over splattered with mud, ‘I’m angry at Nedley,’ she sulked. ‘Surely he could see that this was not the night for patrolling… it’s horrible.’ She slumped against gravestone right next to Waverly so she could achieve some shelter under the umbrella.  
‘I guess vampires don’t check the weather channel,’ Waverly retorted.  
Wynonna let out an amused snigger before putting her stake safely back in her pocket, ‘I saw you talking to Perry today…’ she saw Waverly’s face fall instantly at the subject. ‘That good huh?’  
‘We’re on a break…’ Waverly told her. Wynonna’s face turned sympathetic as she placed her hand on Waverly’s leg. ‘Yeah… it hurt him… a lot… so I don’t really want to talk about it.’  
‘Sure thing,’ Wynonna agreed.   
‘All I know is that right now… I have no idea who I am,’ Waverly went on. ‘Everything I knew, cheerleading, Perry, my so called friends… is gone and now…’ She caught Wynonna’s eye and saw that there was a little hurt in the slayer’s eyes. ‘Oh no, it’s not bad… it’s just… it’s happened so fast you know. So fast.’  
Wynonna carried a knowing look on her face, ‘what exactly are we talking about?’ Waverly ignored Wynonna’s eyes as she stared down at her feet. ‘Because something tells me it’s tall, wears black, has red hair and is so totally into you that she may as well carry around a billboard saying…’  
‘Vampire!’ Waverly cried.  
Wynonna frowned, ‘that’s not really what I had in mind but…’  
‘No…’ Waverly pointed out into the graveyard. ‘Vampire rising from that grave there!’ Sure enough as they peered from the rain, a hand had burst through the freshly covered grave and was clawing at the dirt.  
Wynonna went to remove her stake from her pocket, but stopped and looked at Waverly with a mischievous grin, ‘how about you take this one?’ Waverly looked at her stunned. ‘Come on… you’re clearly pissed off with life, take it out on him.’ She held her stake out to Waverly. ‘It’s the best time to get them; they’re disorientated and clumsy when they first rise.’  
Thrilled, Waverly handed her umbrella to Wynonna, snatched the stake and began running through the rain over to where the vampire was trying to heave its body out of the grave. Inelegantly, Wynonna followed desperately trying to keep the umbrella from turning inside out as she ran. Waverly stopped just out of reach from the vampire as she flopped around in the rain and mud trying to free his legs.  
‘Well, hello Mr… guess you’re my cheer up jam this evening,’ Waverly sneered already soaked through. The vampire growled at her as he continued to struggle.  
‘Come on Waves… get him now!’ Wynonna cried.  
‘No…’ Waverly said to herself. ‘I want a fight…’ She gripped onto the stake tightly and took a few steps back allowing the vampire to stand up. His burial suit was completely soaked through and stained with mud and grass stains from his ungainly escape from the grave. As he stood up fully, Waverly instantly regret her decision to allow him to do as he towered over her. ‘Oh fudgenuggets… you’re huge.’  
Elated by her reaction, the vampire grinned through its sharp teeth, ‘that’s what a lot of the women say.’  
‘Oh come on… really?’ Wynonna scoffed. Her focus then turned to the precarious position Waverly was in, ‘use his strength against him Waves… like I showed you.’ Waverly nodded back away from him. She glanced around taking in her surroundings. Her eyes returned to him in the nick of time as he pounced. Wynonna’s words burning in her ears, she stepped aside quickly causing his lunge to miss. He stumbled forwards into nothing. The next thing he connected with was a gravestone. He fell to the floor holding his head. A little surprised, Waverly looked up at Wynonna who smiled with approval.  
Waverly moved to take her chance. She adjusted the stake and moved around to his side. Bringing her arm back she brought the stake down into his chest, but after a few seconds, he did not explode into dust. Her pause and shock at the fact she had missed his heart gave the vampire to recover. Grinning, the vampire’s arm extended and his hand clamped around Waverly’s neck. Standing up, he threw the helpless human across the graveyard. She hit a gravestone and landed on the floor coughing in agony.   
The moment his hand had clamped around Waverly’s neck, Wynonna had already thrown the umbrella away and begun running to Waverly’s aid. She so desperately wanted to go to Waverly’s side as the girl lay crumpled on the floor. Instead, she had to deal with the laughing vampire first. Her anger ensured that she was able to make quick work of him. Her stake found the spot that Waverly had failed to do. When she turned back to Waverly, she saw that someone was already tending to her.  
‘Hey…,’ Waverly felt Nicole’s cold hands around her face as she grimaced at the excruciating pain in her side. ‘You okay… can you get up?’  
‘I don’t know…’ Waverly admitted flinching.  
‘How is she?’ Wynonna asked as she arrived landing on her knees next to Waverly.  
‘Not good… thanks to you,’ Nicole snapped.  
Wynonna recoiled taken back, ‘excuse me?’  
Nicole’s eyes didn’t leave Waverly, ‘what were you thinking? Leaving her to take on a vampire?’  
‘She’s perfectly capable…’ Wynonna protested.  
‘Well clearly not!’ Nicole cried turning to face her with all her wrath.   
‘Guys…’ Waverly began as she gradually eased herself onto her knees.  
Wynonna however was too preoccupied with Nicole’s attack, ‘who are you to tell me how to look after my…?’  
‘You weren’t looking after her though were you?’ Nicole continued her eyes now completely on Wynonna furious. ‘You were standing back whilst a human took on a demon!’  
‘What are you saying? That you doubt Waverly’s abilities?’  
‘And with good reason! You know I think the world of her but ultimately she is…’  
‘What?’ Waverly interrupted angrily. Both Wynonna and Nicole spun round to face her as she stood up gingerly holding her side. ‘What am I?’  
Nicole’s eyes immediately fell soft as she saw the anguish on Waverly’s face, ‘Waverly I…’  
However, the pain on Waverly’s face was not about their words, ‘that’s just it… what am I?’ Nicole took a step forward as she despised seeing Waverly hurt, but Waverly took a step back. ‘You both know who you are and you can fight. What can I do? I have no powers. I have no skills. The only skill was cheerleading which I loved and now, I can’t even do that! I’m nothing but a useless human who mostly gets in the way…’  
‘Come on Waves…’ Wynonna tried. ‘You know you are more than just a human…’ she glanced at Nicole. ‘To both of us…’  
Waverly had no more words, her face broke, then she began to cry. Forgetting their argument, Nicole looked at Wynonna almost for permission. Wynonna knew that Nicole’s words were only out of her concern for Waverly and nodded. Slowly, Nicole approached and took Waverly up in her arms. Waverly couldn’t help but fall into them still holding onto her side.  
‘Come on…’ Nicole whispered taking all of her weight. ‘I’ll take you home…’ 

The rain passed, Nicole sat on Waverly’s roof looking into the girl who was now standing more easily dressed in warm pyjamas. Her face was slightly marked from where she had landed on the floor, something with Nicole noticed but didn’t let Waverly show that it pained her.  
‘Thank you…’ Waverly smiled as she stood on the other side of the window frame. ‘I guess you were watching me again huh?’  
‘Always.’  
‘Don’t you have anything better to do?’  
‘Quite frankly…’ she gazed at Waverly. ‘No.’  
‘My own vampire stalker,’ Waverly joked.  
Nicole’s face creased at the word, ‘I’d like to think body guard is more accurate… or maybe angel?’   
‘You’re a demon… can demons be angels?’ Waverly asked gently. The subject was getting easier to approach.  
‘I don’t think there’s a definitive rule on who can be a guardian angel…’ Nicole said thoughtfully.  
‘Well whatever type you are… you do your job well.’  
Nicole’s face turned serious, she reached up and softly traced the edge of Waverly’s facial injury, ‘like I said… I’ll never let anything happen to you…’  
Their eyes met for a moment, before Waverly pulled hers away. Nicole respected her and moved her. She wasn’t going to push. She promised Waverly she would wait and so she would.  
‘I kinda broke up with Perry today…’ Waverly said. Nicole’s eyes lit up. She couldn’t hide it. ‘Well… we’re on a break.’   
‘What does this mean?’ her eyes flickered between Waverly’s searching for the answer she wanted.  
Waverly so badly wanted to know, ‘that we’re on a break…’ she repeated. Nicole’s yearning gaze burned into her. She looked away. ‘That’s all I know right now.’ She knew it was hurting Nicole. ‘I’m sorry…’  
Nicole buried her disappointment and smiled, ‘Waves… you don’t have to apologise for anything.’ She looked down at Waverly’s hand which rested on the window frame near hers. She moved hers a little closer so she could stretch out her thumb and touch Waverly’s with it. Both girls watched the move. ‘Sounds like you need to focus on who you are for a little while.’ Waverly couldn’t help but laugh, once again astounded at Nicole’s understanding. ‘And whoever that is…’ Nicole used a finger to tip Waverly’s face up. ‘… I will wait for…’ Unable to resist, Nicole leaned forward and placed their foreheads together. She knew a kiss would be too much but she needed the touch as much as Waverly needed the comfort. As the night grew still around them, they relaxed and allowed the moment to linger.

As Waverly approached down the corridor, Wynonna held back a little apprehensive. However, Waverly smiled as soon as she saw Wynonna, allowing the slayer to relax. Wynonna did however notice that Waverly was walking with a slight limp.  
‘You alright?’ she asked as they reached each other. Waverly carefully lifted up her top to reveal a nasty bruise on her side. ‘Oh man… I am so so…’  
‘Wynonna,’ Waverly stopped her. ‘It’s okay… it’s forgotten.’  
Wynonna raised her eyebrow, ‘did Nicole have something to do with that?’  
There was a hint of blushing in Waverly’s cheeks, ‘nothing happened, but she did make me feel better yes.’  
‘I’m glad,’ Wynonna touched Waverly’s arm gently to also give the young girl comfort. The over her shoulder, Wynonna spotted Mattie making her way down the corridor. ‘I’ll catch up with you later?’ Waverly nodded with a smile before Wynonna made her way over to the girl she’d flattened in gym the day before. ‘Hey Mattie, you all okay today?’  
‘Yeah,’ Mattie snapped coldly. ‘Why do you ask?’  
Her harsh tone caused Wynonna to step back, ‘um… because I slammed you down on your back yesterday.’  
Mattie looked a little lost for a moment, ‘oh yeah… not very nice of you.’  
A sick feeling entered Wynonna’s stomach, ‘I said I was sorry… you seemed fine about it yesterday…’  
‘Well, clearly I’ve changed my mind… it hurt,’ she flicked her hair back avoiding eye contact.  
Wynonna studied her perplexed, ‘Mattie? Are you feeling okay?’ This was not the same girl she had joked about in gym just a day ago.  
‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ Mattie shrugged dismissively. ‘Look, I’ve got to go okay.’ With that she stomped past Wynonna and disappeared out of sight leaving Wynonna staring at where she had stood completely staggered.

‘And you say she’s completely changed from yesterday?’ Jeremy asked poking his very unappetising school meal with his fork.  
‘Completely,’ Wynonna nodded. ‘Yesterday she was so friendly, so funny… today, it was like someone had sucked all the fun out of her.’  
‘You’ve only known her a day Wynonna,’ Waverly commented softly. ‘Maybe she’s just having a bad day?’  
‘I sensed something,’ Wynonna went on. ‘I can’t explain it. Something was off with her, like it wasn’t Mattie…’  
‘She is generally quite friendly,’ Jeremy agreed. ‘I’ve spoken to her a few times. Us quiet socially expelled types tend to find each other.’  
‘Well you’re that no longer Chetri,’ Waverly smiled touching his arm. He returned the smile so pleased that it was the truth.  
‘So what should we do about Mattie?’ Wynonna asked wanting to return back to the subject. ‘My slayer senses are tingling.’  
‘Ooooo like Spidey senses?’ Jeremy asked a little too excited. Waverly hit him playfully on the back of the head.  
‘I guess we keep an eye on her?’ Waverly suggested. ‘I mean, there’s not much to go on is there?’  
‘Okay, can you guys get on that?’ Wynonna asked gathering up her things. ‘I’m required in the library… Nedley wants me for crossbow training.’ She grinned. ‘Slaying can be SUCH a drag sometimes.’ Slinging her bag over her shoulder she made a quick exit out of the canteen.  
‘Don’t you just hate her sometimes?’ Jeremy asked.  
‘So much.’  
As Wynonna hot tailed it out of the canteen, little did she know that their entire conversation had been over heard. Stepping back out of sight, Mattie watched as Wynonna made her way quickly down the corridor towards the library. As she did so, she smiled cruelly through thinned eyes.

Waverly rolled her eyes with a smile as she pulled up to the house in her jeep and saw Nicole lurking in the shadows round by the side. She kept their eyes locked as she got out and locked up.   
‘You seriously need a hobby,’ she chuckled. She checked the house to make sure Gus wasn’t looking out of the windows before she ducked into the shadows caused by the moon to join Nicole.  
‘You know what my hobby is,’ Nicole replied.  
‘Well, you need another… like knitting… or cross stitch, I hear that takes ages.’  
‘Wool irritates my skin,’ Nicole stated. ‘Plus, I have no need to feel warm. No body temperature.’  
‘That must be weird?’  
‘Two hundred years is a long time to get used to something,’ Nicole shrugged. Her eyes wandered from Waverly’s eyes down to her side. ‘Speaking of bodies though… how’s yours?’ She wanted to reach out and touch it, but she kept her hands firmly down by her sides.  
Instead, Waverly lifted her top up and showed Nicole the nasty bruise, ‘it’s pretty sore,’ she admitted. Nicole’s face looked troubled as she studied the injury. ‘I’m okay… no broken ribs. As long as I don’t get a cough any time soon, I’ll be fine.’  
‘I just wish Wynonna would be more careful with you,’  
‘I can slay vampires Nicole,’ Waverly said getting a little irritated. ‘I’ve done it before…’  
‘I know,’ Nicole blinked. ‘I have no doubt in your abilities Waverly…’ She paused for a moment as though scared to say the words she wanted to. ‘But you are only human…’  
Waverly broke her eyes away from Nicole a little hurt, ‘yes… as everyone keeps reminding me…’  
‘Hey!’ Nicole stepped forward and placed her hands firmly on Waverly’s arms. ‘That doesn’t make you any less special. You have to believe that.’  
‘I’m sorry…’ Waverly broke out of Nicole’s hold. ‘I just don’t… I don’t feel special at all.’ She began to make her way around the house towards the porch. ‘I need to be by myself okay, I’ll talk to you later.’ Nicole heard the door slam as Waverly went into the house. In the shadows, she hung her head back almost looking to the sky for answers. She could tell Waverly was in a lot of turmoil and it wounded that she had no idea what to do about it.

Nedley circled her, watching Wynonna’s every move as Wynonna twirled the wooden staff in her hand. Wynonna stopped low watching Nedley through intense eyes waiting for his move, ready to react when it came. She moved the staff from one hand to the other then completely unexpectedly it slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor with a great clatter. Shaking herself a little surprised she bent down to pick it up. Nedley straightened a little confused also as he watched the slayer reclaim her weapon. Then as she stood, Wynonna felt the room spin and staggered to prevent herself from falling over.  
‘Woah…’ Nedley rushed forward and grabbed her by the arms to stop her from doing so. ‘Come on… let’s sit you down.’ He walked her over to a chair. He put down his staff and began to take off the padding strapped to his arms and legs.  
‘Sorry Nedley, not sure what’s come over me…’ she blinked trying to regain focus but the room was continuing to spin.  
‘You are looking very pale…’ Nedley commented. Once all of his padding was off and cast aside, he placed a hand to her forehead. ‘You’re burning up. It’s not usual for the slayer to become unwell.’  
‘I was absolutely fine when I woke up this morning,’ Wynonna told him. She had now closed her eyes to prevent the room from swirling around her as it was building nausea in her stomach.  
‘What are your symptoms?’ Nedley asked grabbing his notepad and pen.  
‘Well, my head is pounding, room feels like I’m in whirlpool and I can’t stand up… I’m dying aren’t I?’  
Nedley smiled glad that Wynonna had retained her sense of humour, ‘let’s not get too dramatic, but I’m going to need to look into this. You could just have a common cold but… when it comes to the slayer we can’t take the risk.’  
‘Jesus… who drained the colour out of Wynonna? You been training her too hard Nedley?’ Nedley and Wynonna looked up to see Jeremy and Waverly approaching having entered the library. Once Jeremy saw the expressions on their faces he knew instantly that his joke had been mistimed.  
‘What’s wrong?’ Waverly asked more carefully noting the extreme pale complexion that Wynonna was showing.   
‘Wynonna isn’t feeling well… which is unusual for a slayer,’ Nedley told them. ‘Due to their duty their immune systems are heightened and should prevent her from becoming sick.’  
‘So could this be something supernatural?’ Jeremy said as he sat down and got out his laptop.  
‘Could be,’ Nedley nodded.  
‘A spell?’ Waverly suggested.  
‘It could be a number of things,’ Nedley acknowledged.  
‘If it is a spell, who would want to hurt Wynonna?’ Waverly went on. ‘No one else in school is feeling like this to my knowledge, so it’s something targeting hurt.’  
‘A lot of people and things want to hurt the slayer,’ Nedley told them as he turned his attention back to Wynonna was keeping her eyes closed as she listened. ‘But… has there been anything recently? Any recent upsets or fights on patrol?’  
Wynonna pried her eyes open, ‘Mattie…’ she said her voice forced and weak. ‘She seemed pretty pissed at me today after what happened in gym yesterday when I flawed her in self-defence class.’ She took a breath as the room and her stomach lurched again. ‘She was all smiles about it yesterday but today, she pretty much snapped my head off.’  
‘But Mattie’s harmless…’ Jeremy commented.  
‘Everything is this town seems harmless until it’s not…’ Nedley stated his voice turning serious. There was a lot more concern on his face as Wynonna sounded like she was struggling to breathe. ‘We need to lie her down.’ He bent down so he could wrap one of her arms around his neck. Jeremy jumped up and took the other so that they could drag her through to Nedley’s office. Just beyond it, unknown to the three teenagers until then, was a door leading through a small cupboard bedroom with a single bed and side table. Waverly flicked on the light as Nedley and Jeremy lay her down.  
‘Okay Neddles, there’s being attached to your job and then there’s obsession if you sleep there…’ Wynonna quipped quietly as her back fell back into the soft sheets. She had now begun shivering with the fever.  
‘Just rest…’ he stood back and looked at his rapidly declining slayer. He turned to Waverly and Jeremy who had forgotten about the surprise of the bedroom and were now just as worried as he was. ‘Since we have nothing else to go on, go to Mattie’s house. See if there’s anything going on there.’  
‘What about you?’ Jeremy asked.  
‘Stupid question Chetri…’ Wynonna breathed out showing there was a spark in her yet. ‘Stupid question.’  
‘He’ll hit the books,’ Jeremy nodded.   
Waverly went over to Wynonna and placed a kiss on her forehead, ‘don’t worry… we’ll sort this.’ Her eyes still closed, Wynonna flailed her hand around until it found Waverly’s arm. Once it had, she squeezed it in an appreciative reply. She didn’t want to show it, but the slayer was terrified. She had never felt this ill.

As Waverly pulled her jeep up to the house, she and Jeremy stared out of the window and its foreboding appearance. It hung back from the road surrounded by tall dark, evergreen trees. Through them, the two could see that it was gloomy and worn down.  
‘You sure this is right?’ Waverly asked as she clung onto the steering wheel.  
Jeremy checked his piece of paper, ‘yup.’  
‘Okay then, we better check it out,’ she turned off the engine and they both slid out of the car. Passing through the creaky gate now beyond the wall and the trees, their eyes fell upon an unloved garden growing out of control. Some of the grass almost came up to their shoulders.  
‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this,’ Jeremy whispered.  
They walked up to the old black wooden door with no window and only a knocker hanging about two thirds up. With a glance at Jeremy, Waverly stepped forward, raised it and allowed it to fall allowing a loud thud to ring out. They waited a few seconds but there was no answer. Waverly did it again. Again, there was no answer. As Waverly went to raise it a third time her heavy hand caused the door to fall open slightly.  
Waverly looked at Jeremy, ‘should we?’  
‘What? Go into the old spooky house uninvited?’ he replied. ‘Sure!’  
Carefully, Waverly pushed the door open to reveal that the house inside was very much like the house on the outside. Cluttered, dark and unkempt there was barely any light inside despite it being the middle of the afternoon. Waverly going first, Jeremy crouched behind her as they moved in.  
‘You are such a baby Jeremy,’ Waverly commented quietly.  
‘I hate creepy houses,’ Jeremy shot back.  
Standing in the middle of the hallway they looked into the living room. The furniture was old and dusty. Old relics littered very surface along with worn and torn books and items in strange jars. When they looked in the opposite direction into the dining room, their eyes found a large black cauldron sitting in the middle of the table.  
‘Er, this is beginning to look a little ominous,’ Jeremy said in Waverly’s ear as he clung onto her. ‘Can we leave now?’ As soon as he spoke, they suddenly heard movement upstairs as a floorboard creaked above them.   
Waverly reached behind her and clung onto Jeremy’s leg, ‘hello?’ she called out reservedly.  
‘What are you doing?’ Jeremy said through gritted teeth.  
‘We have to find out what’s going on here, for Wynonna,’ she replied. ‘Hello? Anyone there?’ She let go of Jeremy and began to move towards the stairs.   
Jeremy stayed rooted to the spot in fear as he watched Waverly climb the first few steps, ‘so we’re going further into the scary haunted house?’ he said in disbelief. Waverly wasn’t listening to him now as she had reached the half way point of the stairs whilst she hung onto the banister. Jeremy sighed, ‘Yep… guess we’re going further into the scary, haunted house where we might die!’  
When they reached the top, the landing of the upstairs seemed even gloomier than the downstairs. Covered in cobwebs, pagan and Wiccan symbols hung from the walls. Waverly listened out carefully until she heard another shuffle of feet inside one of the rooms. Once again, Jeremy clung to her from behind as they moved forward. Then filled with a sudden burst of bravery, Waverly reached forward and opened the door to find a girl cowering in the corner inside.  
‘Mattie?’ However, as the girl looked up, it was a very different Mattie.  
‘Waverly?’ the girl stood up. She had Mattie’s features, but they were harsh. Her hair was darker and she had an eyepatch across her right eye. Her clothes were dull, old and worn.  
Waverly and Jeremy moved cautiously into the room, ‘what are you?’  
‘She trapped me here.’  
‘What? Who trapped you here?’ Waverly pressed.  
‘I am Mattie,’ Mattie seemed terrified. ‘But this is not my body, it’s Greta’s. She took it.’  
‘Woah, slow down… start from the beginning.’  
Mattie took a breath, ‘my twin sister Greta, is witch,’ She told them. ‘She got kicked out of school for bad behaviour and has been irate ever since. It drove her insane. I’ve been trying to help her but she refused. Then the next thing I know, I’ve woken up in her body. I think she wants to hurt everyone at school because they treated her really badly, especially the principal. I really wanted to warn everyone but she threatened me and trapped me here.’  
‘Did she cast a spell on Wynonna?’ Jeremy asked.  
‘I think so yes…’ Mattie nodded. ‘I’m so sorry…’  
‘Look, it’s fine. We just need to undo it,’ Waverly assured her. ‘Where does she do her spells?’  
‘I can show you, but I can’t go in, she put up some sort of barrier against me,’ Mattie told them as she led them out of the room. ‘I’ve been practising a bit of magic too but I’m not as strong as she is.’ They followed Mattie down the hall to the furthest room. Without thinking, Mattie put her hand on the door handle then wrenched it off immediately screaming in pain. When she opened her hand it revealed a nasty burn. ‘It should be okay for you… I forgot she’d done that.’  
Waverly and Jeremy looked at each other nervously, before Waverly covered her hand with the sleeve of her jumper and tentatively put her hand on the door handle. There was no heat or burning and she turned it with ease. Once the door sprung open it revealed chaos and darkness inside. Ingredients of all kinds hung from the ceiling, great paintings and Wiccan symbols hung from the walls surrounded by reams of black cloth. In the middle sat a boiling and bubbling cauldron with a doll hanging above it. Jeremy walked forward and took the doll in his hand.  
‘Um, I think this is meant to be Wynonna…’  
Mattie watched from the door cradling her hand, ‘voodoo…’ she said. ‘She’s done a voodoo spell. She must have felt that Wynonna found out something.’  
‘She was saying she knew something was off with who we thought was you yesterday,’ Waverly agreed.  
‘Those slayer spidey senses were really working,’ Jeremy said quietly out of earshot of Mattie.  
‘So how do we reverse it?’ Waverly asked.  
‘There should be a book, a large brown old book that has been passed down through the generations of our family,’ Mattie said. Waverly and Jeremy began to search the room picking up other books and the junk that was strewn over every surface possible. ‘Maybe by the cauldron?’ Waverly went round the back and saw on a small table covered in black cloth and various ingredients that one lay open. She brushed off the items that lay upon it and picked it up. ‘That’s the one… bring it over…’ Waverly did as she was told. Jeremy went to follow but found himself caught up in one of the long ingredients that hung from the ceiling. This went unnoticed by Waverly and Mattie as Waverly took the book just out of the room so Mattie could hold it. Mattie looked over the spell on the page. ‘Yes… To Thwart My Enemy… typical spell used to debilitate someone you feel is a threat…’ As they read on, Jeremy continued to fight against the ingredient that had wrapped itself around his neck. He tried to cry out but his wind pipe being crushed prevented him from doing so. ‘I can help you, but first you have to help me leave this house.’  
‘No problem, what do you need me to do?’  
Mattie took the book and began looking through book for another spell, ‘here… she trapped me with this…’ In the room, Jeremy looked around for some help. He saw a knife lying on the side near him. Pulling the snake like creature with him he reached out and could just reach it. ‘I need you to find these things…’ Mattie pointed to the diagrams. ‘And then say these words…’  
Waverly looked carefully at the diagram and put to memory what it was she was looking for in the room, ‘okay,’ she nodded ready to begin her task. Once his fingers closed around the knife Jeremy swung it up and slashed through the reptilian creature that gripped onto him. He fell to the floor gasping as green good dripped onto his face from the remains. As he got to his feet, Waverly re-entered, ‘Jeremy! What are you doing? This is not the time for lying about!’ So focused on her task, Waverly did not noticed Jeremy’s flushed face or the fact he was covered in slime. Exasperated, Jeremy scrambled to his feet and pulled the rest of the remains from around his neck.

Apprehensively, Waverly held the book open with one hand and the Wiccan token in the other as she made her way down the steps to the house. Jeremy followed using an old rag to rid his skin of the remains that continued to cling to his skin. In the doorway, Mattie waited patiently for Waverly to begin.  
‘Okay Waverly… you can do this,’ Waverly said to herself. She held the Wiccan token up and began to read the words. At first they seemed difficult to say, then unexpectedly they flowed almost as easily as English off her tongue. She felt power rise up within her as a sudden wind rustled through her hair and made its way over to the door. The barrier holding Mattie captive began to shake as it fought against the spell.  
‘Keep going Waverly!’ Mattie called. She held her hands up against the barrier, careful not to touch it. ‘I can feel it weakening, you’ve almost got it.’  
Waverly held the token more tightly and thrust her arm up higher into the air as she continued to chant. She found that she somehow knew the words without needing to read them. Jeremy watched aghast as Waverly closed the book and focused her stare on the invisible barrier. With one final cry, there was an explosion of sparks as the barrier shattered and broke. Mattie blinked stunned and carefully stepped over the threshold so that she was standing outside. She shook her head awestruck at the power Waverly just demonstrated as she approached the gasping girl.  
‘Did you know you could do that?’ Mattie asked looking back at the door.  
Waverly was just as dumbfounded as Mattie was, ‘nope… no idea…’ she looked at the token in her hand and held it out to return it to Mattie.  
‘No,’ Mattie smiled. ‘You keep that… I think you might find it useful.’ Waverly beamed and stared at the beautiful silver circle with the Wiccan star carved into the middle of it. She could feel its power in her hand yet somehow, she had been able to harness it. ‘Come on… we have to save Wynonna.’

As late afternoon arrived, Waverly, Jeremy and Mattie tore through the corridors that were now absent all the other pupils. Without warning, Mattie stopped running and seemed to be overcome by an invisible force. It was a few steps before Jeremy and Waverly realised that they had left her behind.  
‘What’s wrong?’ Jeremy asked returning to her.  
Mattie caught her breath before meeting his eyes, ‘Greta has returned home… she knows I’m gone…’ the fear in her eyes caused both Jeremy and Waverly’s blood to run cold. ‘She’s starting the spell against the school… We have to hurry!’ She grabbed Jeremy’s arm and pulled him after her beginning their run again. They flew round the corner and burst into the library. They knew that they would not find either Nedley or Wynonna in the main library so proceeded straight to the room in which they had left them. The sight that greeted them stopped them in their tracks.  
‘Oh god…’ Waverly breathed out. ‘Are we too late?’  
Nedley looked up from his hands, his face having been buried in them. In front of him, Wynonna seemed drained of all colour as she lay still and silent. He looked at the terrified faces of Waverly and Jeremy as they looked to him for an answer. ‘Did you find Mattie?’ he asked, his voice shaking. Without a word, Waverly and Jeremy stood aside, their eyes not leaving Wynonna. Upon seeing Mattie, Nedley stood. ‘Can you help?’ Mattie too looked taken back by the sight of the sick girl on the bed but she managed a subtle nod. ‘Then it’s not too late.’  
‘How can I help?’ Mattie asked.  
‘We have to reverse the spell that has been cast…’ he suddenly realised why Waverly and Jeremy had gone to Mattie’s house in the first place and backed off from her. ‘Wait… didn’t you…?’  
‘No…’ Jeremy cut in. ‘This isn’t Mattie’s body, it’s Greta’s but Mattie is inside it. Mattie’s twin who is a witch switched them and she was the one who cast the spell.’  
‘Okay…’ Nedley said as he relaxed trying to catch up.  
‘We need to switch them back!’ Waverly suddenly cried. She still carried the book she had used to break the spell on the house. ‘If we switch them back it will undo everything…’ she looked up her face full of hope. ‘And Wynonna will be okay.’ She read on. ‘But they have to be in the same room… so we have to find Greta.’  
‘She could be anywhere,’ Jeremy said horrified.   
‘And we do not have a lot of time,’ Nedley added looking panicked.  
‘We could do a…’ Mattie started.   
‘Locator spell,’ Waverly finished.  
Mattie stared at her, ‘how did you know that?’  
‘I don’t know,’ Waverly replied looking as shocked as Mattie. ‘I just did.’ She put the book down on the table and began to furiously flick through the pages until she found the right one. ‘Here…’   
Mattie joined her by her side looking at the page also, ‘she’s not going to want to come easily…’  
A proud smile crossed Waverly’s face, ‘I know someone who might be able to help there.’

Knowing that Nicole would have been nearby, Waverly managed to get a message to her telepathically through Mattie. It had been a surreal experience for both Nicole and Mattie as Mattie spoke to Nicole for Waverly, but after the locator spell had been completed by the young witch had been able to send a message with Greta’s location. Whilst waiting, Waverly, Mattie and Jeremy used the time to prepare the spell that would be needed to reverse what Greta had done. Nedley stayed close by Wynonna’s side as her breathing continued to grow weaker and weaker.  
It felt like they had waited for hours, but only half an hour later a writhing and struggling Greta in Mattie’s body was forced into the library as Nicole held her firm. There had clearly been a fight as Greta bled from the nose and Nicole from the lip. However, the vampire held the witch’s hands tightly so that they could not be raised to cast another spell. Everyone stood on edge as Nicole brought her forward, particularly Mattie as she made her way forward to confront her sister.  
‘You are such a fool sister,’ Mattie breathed clearly hurt from her sister’s actions.  
Greta laughed manically, ‘I’m not a fool. I’m just pissed off.’  
‘You trapped me and now you’re killing Wynonna!’ Mattie exclaimed.  
‘She was going to kill more,’ Nicole said still holding Greta tightly. ‘I got there just in time to stop it.’ She gestured to her lip. ‘She wasn’t pleased.’  
‘You are a good ally to the slayer,’ Mattie said smiling at the vampire. ‘Despite what you are.’  
Nicole frowned, ‘you can tell?’  
‘I can read people,’ Mattie nodded. ‘I knew who Wynonna was, I know who you are… and I know who she could be.’ She looked behind her to where Waverly was ready waiting to help with the spell with Jeremy beside her. ‘The only person I couldn’t read… was my sister.’   
Nicole could see a trace of guilt on Mattie’s face, ‘let’s put it right…’  
Mattie nodded buoyed by the words and turned back to Waverly, ‘you’re up.’  
Without hesitation, Waverly began. With the book in her hand and the token in the other, Waverly began to read from the book. Once again, the words seemed incomprehensible and strange but slowly as more flowed from her mouth she began to understand them and believe in them. The more she believed the more the token in her hand began to shine from the carved star. She felt the same power begin to surge through her that she had felt outside Mattie’s house. From where she stood, Nicole watched stunned. From the bedroom, Nedley rose from his chair to watch as Waverly’s power grew and the spell began to take form from it. He removed his glasses, so he could truly believe what he was seeing.  
‘Now Jeremy!’ Waverly called. Quickly, Jeremy dropped ingredients into the beaker positioned above a Bunsen burner allowing it to boil and react. Soon the mixture turned black and a strange steam began to rise from it. The steam was controlled by Waverly as she continued to recite the spell. She looked at Mattie and nodded prompting the girl to step back. Now her feet were within the circle that Jeremy had drawn in chalk on the floor. Within the chalk was the Wiccan star which now began to glow.  
‘Nicole!’ Jeremy cried. ‘Push Greta into the circle!’  
Knowing that this would undo all her work, Greta tried one last time to struggle against the vice grip of the vampire, but it was no good. Straining, Nicole forced the witch forward and used her foot in Greta’s back to topple her into the circle next to her sister. Once she was free of Nicole’s hold, Greta tried to escape the circle but something in the spell prevented her from doing so. She was imprisoned. She looked at her sister disgusted. However, she had no time to act upon her disgust as Waverly’s spell now controlled their bodies also. As Mattie and Greta stared up at Waverly, they watched as the human’s eyes turned back and now commanded the steam to rush forward towards the two young witches. The steam pierced the invisible obstruction and hung in the air for a moment in front of their faces before rushing into their bodies through their mouths. Both girls gasped as if choking and fell to the floor holding their necks. The others glanced between each other fearfully.   
Time seemed to stop for a moment before both witches stopped coughing and began to return to their feet. They seemed disorientated and steadied themselves before their eyes came to rest on each other. It was clear instantly that the spell had worked.  
‘Nicole!’ Jeremy cried. Nicole knew the meaning. She rushed forward to pull Mattie, now in her own body, away from the seething Greta. However, as Greta raised her hands she found them stuck and not her own. Looking up, she saw Waverly was still chanting but now under her breath; her eyes still black. She was in full control of Greta.  
Mattie held up her hand to reassure Nicole she was not needed as her eyes studied her furious sister, ‘you have no place here anymore Greta,’ she spoke calmly. ‘Everyone is onto you, the slayer, her friends, a vampire and now me… you have to go.’  
Greta laughed, ‘I don’t see the slayer…’  
‘Think again,’ came Wynonna’s voice. Everyone’s eyes but Waverly’s turned towards Nedley’s office as a still weakened slayer stumbled out with the help of her watcher. ‘And trust me… a slayer pissed off, is so much worse than an angry witch.’  
With a smile, Mattie looked back at her sister, ‘see… you can’t win here.’  
‘Oh trust me… one day… I will,’ with one last push against Waverly’s hold on her, Greta clicked her fingers and she vanished before their eyes. When she did so, Waverly was pulled out of the spell. She took in a deep breath and her eyes returned to normal. Weakened, she fell forward and rested her hands on the table next to her.  
‘That…’ Jeremy beamed amazed. Waverly was nervous to the words that would next come out of his mouth. ‘… was awesome!’

Calm having fallen over the library, Wynonna was slowly feeling her strength and powers returning. The colour had come back to her face and she was able to stand up without any help. She still however remained seated watching as Jeremy packed away the equipment he had borrowed from one of the Science labs.  
‘Where the hell did that come from?’ she asked him.  
Jeremy froze like a burglar caught in the act, ‘from Mr Steven’s room… I’m going to return it…’  
‘No you muppet,’ Wynonna laughed. ‘Waverly… where the hell did that come from with Waverly?’ Jeremy sighed in relief and continued packing. ‘Did you know she could do that?’  
‘No, but it was cool wasn’t it… I mean her eyes… did you see her eyes?’  
Wynonna nodded, but she was not as enthusiastic, ‘yes… yes I did…’ her attention turned to where Waverly and Mattie were talking near the library door.  
‘You… you were amazing,’ Mattie smiled. Waverly looked a little embarrassed at the praise. ‘You have real power there Waverly Earp… I think it’s something you need to look into.’ She looked at the spell book in her hand and held it out to Waverly. ‘And if you have any questions, you know where to find me.’  
‘You can’t give me this,’ Waverly said pushing the book away. ‘It’s one of your most treasured spell books.’  
‘I’m thinking of having a little break from magic for a while… so I thought, you could borrow it…’ she held it out again. This time Waverly took it. ‘But be aware Waverly Gibson, with that token and this book, you can control some very powerful spells... and all spells have consequences.’  
‘I will be careful,’ Waverly assured her. ‘I’m feeling a little nauseous after that last spell. I think it’ll be a while before I cast another.’ She stroked the book then held it close to her chest. ‘Are you okay?’  
‘I’ve had better days,’ Mattie admitted. ‘But I’ll be okay… as long as Greta stays gone.’  
‘You know where we are, if you ever need friends,’ Waverly smiled kindly placing a hand on Mattie’s arm. Mattie placed her hand over Waverly’s. She didn’t speak, but Waverly knew it was a thank you. She watched as Mattie nodded and moved out of the door and library.  
As Waverly watched her go, she felt another presence join her from behind. She closed her eyes to enjoy the feeling before she slowly turned and gazed up into Nicole’s eyes. The two smiled at each other before Nicole’s eye line dropped to the book Waverly clutched against her chest.  
‘A little light reading?’  
‘A new interest,’ Waverly nodded.   
Nicole kept her smile, but she looked worried, ‘just be careful… magic is a powerful thing.’  
‘Are you saying I can’t handle it?’ Waverly quipped with a light smirk.  
Nicole allowed herself a little chuckle, ‘I’m not doubting your power Waves… I’m just being wary of what magic can possess.’  
Touched by her concern, Waverly placed her hand behind Nicole’s neck so she could pull her down. Gently she placed their heads together, ‘you make me feel powerful without magic,’ she whispered. After enjoying the moment, Waverly pulled away so she could return to where Wynonna was playfully pretending to attack Jeremy, the slayer’s powers and health completely returned. Nicole watched her go wholly overcome by such a simple gesture.  
‘You’ve always been powerful to me,’ Nicole said after her. Waverly didn’t hear but Nicole didn’t entirely intend for her to. Watching the human with a new spring in her step join her friends, Nicole felt a little warmth rise inside of her before made her leave of the library to return to the night.


	9. The Dark Age

‘Watch this.’   
Under the falling leaves of the autumnal tree, Nicole observed as Waverly stared at the pencil lying on the grass in front of her. The light from the moon glittered through the leaves down onto where they were sitting and onto the object Waverly was trying to move. Behind the concentrating young girl, Nicole giggled under her breath and bit her lip endeared by Waverly’s unsuccessful determination.   
Waverly groaned a little embarrassed, ‘I could do it earlier…’  
‘Maybe something is making you nervous,’ Nicole suggested coyly.  
With an amused smile, Waverly looked over her shoulder at the vampire, ‘maybe it is…’  
Nicole didn’t want to break their gaze but she knew how important this new found interest was to Waverly, ‘go on… try again. This time, try to forget I’m here…’  
Nodding, Waverly turned back to where the pencil lay, ‘that I’m going to find very difficult,’ she said to herself under her breath forgetting Nicole’s powerful hearing. The vampire giggled once again.   
The intense feeling that burned inside Waverly was strong enough when she couldn’t see Nicole, let alone when she was sitting only a few meters away. Nicole knew this; she’d heard the words, she could sense it and was enjoying every minute of it.   
Waverly took a deep breath and tried to see the pencil and only the pencil. Behind her, Nicole began to move forward adjusting herself from sitting and onto her knees. Waverly somehow managed to shut this out as her eyes caused the pencil to begin to shake. It was barely there but the pencil did begin to quiver. She tried to use the surge in feelings at the vampire’s presence to fuel the spell that she was trying to ignite. Nicole paused her movement as she noticed Waverly’s success. She rose slightly so she could see over Waverly’s shoulder as the pencil slowly began to rise. A proud smile spread over the vampire’s face.   
Waverly sat back as the pencil rose to her eye level. The object lying flat, she then caused the pencil to begin to spin, slowly and controlled. The concentration was clear on her face and she would need to keep it in order to maintain the control of her spell. However, Nicole had begun to move forward again behind her. She knew the control Waverly was trying to preserve and wanted to test it, also for her own curiosity and satisfaction. She left room between their bodies, but barely an inch as she knelt up to look over Waverly’s shoulder at the spinning pencil. There was no breath from Nicole’s lips, but Waverly’s neck tingled and the pencil began to spin faster.  
She swallowed, ‘that’s not fair…’ Waverly breathed using her all strength to stay focused.   
‘I’m just helping you to improve and keep your concentration,’ Nicole protested softly. ‘Focus… focus on what you’re doing…’  
Waverly shifted a little where she sat trying to ignore the proximity of the vampire’s body to her own. The chill coming off of Nicole felt like warmth as her skin almost stung. She cleared her throat and returned her awareness entirely to the pencil, but she could not slow its spinning. Nicole was there now, in her head. It didn’t help that Nicole brought her hand to Waverly’s arm and traced its shape up to the shoulder. It was the lightest touch but Waverly felt its true strength. The pencil was now spinning so fast that its control was no longer in Waverly’s grasp. Suddenly, it jerked and pointed straight at the pair. Without warning, it shot in the minuscule space between their heads and embedded itself in the tree behind them.  
Both Waverly and Nicole stared at the pencil and then looked back at each other. ‘Not fair!’ Waverly exclaimed getting up. ‘Not fair at all Nicole!’  
Nicole smiled innocently, ‘I was just testing a theory,’ she shrugged also rising to her feet.  
Crossing her arms, Waverly looked up at the vampire unimpressed, ‘oh yeah and what’s that?’  
‘How someone’s feelings can affect their spells,’ Nicole stated.  
Waverly went to reply, but she was so shocked she couldn’t find an answer. She thinned her eyes to glare at the taller woman who looked down thoroughly amused. ‘Well…’ Waverly flapped. ‘Were your findings satisfactory?’  
Nicole laughed flirtatiously bringing her face a little closer to Waverly’s, ‘very.’ Waverly gazed up into her eyes completely stumped. She had been trying to control them, bury them, ignore them, but her want for Nicole seemed to be growing every single day. ‘In fact, certain outside influences are having such affect, that maybe they need to be removed from the equation so your practise can be successful?’  
Waverly’s face fell immediately, ‘you’re going?’  
‘I don’t have to?’  
Something inside her needed Waverly to give in, even just a little. ‘We can just sit?’ Waverly suggested as nonchalantly as she could manage. ‘Enjoy the stars?’  
Nicole beamed, ‘of course.’ She lowered herself down so she was sitting with her knees together and hands clasped to keep her balance. After a smile, Waverly moved to a place Nicole was not expecting. Cautiously, Waverly sat down in front of Nicole and began to lean back. Understanding, Nicole parted her legs so Waverly could move back and lean against her body. If Nicole could breathe, she would have held it as she took Waverly’s weight using the tree trunk behind to support her. Unsure what to do with her hands, she placed them on her legs but Waverly had other ideas. Slowly, Waverly took them in her own and pulled them around her stomach so Nicole could hold her fully. As Waverly leaned her head back, Nicole could feel her human warmth against her cheek. She closed her eyes to drink it in for a moment. This was more than the touch of one forehead against the other. This was Waverly letting her in just that little bit more.

From where he had landed on the floor, Dolls watched as Wynonna spun masterfully striking the vampire directly in the jaw. Reeling from the blow, she staggered back giving Wynonna the chance to whip out her stake and use it to good effect. Wynonna never got tired of watching them burst into dust. However, the presence of Dolls behind her caused her to turn away a little sooner than usual. She smirked kindly as he looked up from the ground. She extended her hand allowing Dolls the aid to stand up.  
‘Man I’m rusty,’ he groaned taking it allowing the slayer to pull him to his feet. ‘No reflexes at all.’ He gave himself a shake and a dust down. ‘Must be all those damn meds.’  
At this comment, Wynonna looked awkward as memories of the attack flooded back into her head. She chose to ignore them and focus on how well Dolls appeared to be doing now. ‘Do you think they’re dampening your abilities?’  
Well, they’re keeping it at bay and part of my abilities come from it,’ Dolls replied as they began to walk on through the woods.  
‘Are you going to tell me what it is?’ Wynonna pressed carefully.  
Dolls glanced at her and walked on his eyes fixed on the floor, ‘to be honest, I’m not entirely sure myself.’ He moved a branch so that Wynonna could duck under and kept his hand in place so he could follow. ‘I was part of a group of soldiers about five years ago that agreed to this trial which we were told would improve our abilities to fight. Little did we know what we were really getting into.’  
Wynonna stopped walking to look at him, ‘you mean there are others?’ To this Dolls nodded. ‘Well, where are they?’  
‘I don’t know…’ he walked past her to keep moving. ‘Five years ago I wasn’t in Purgatory and like me; the others were dispersed all over American and Canada. I’ve been trying to contact them, to see if they’re struggling like me.’ He stopped to face her. ‘I never got a true explanation and I’ve been searching ever since.’  
‘Maybe Nedley can help?’ Wynonna suggested tentatively. ‘The man has a mind like a Beasts ‘r’ Us dictionary.’ She then realised that her wording could have been a little kinder. ‘Sorry…’  
Dolls smiled to reassure her, ‘thank you… it’s true, what I have inside me is a monster, but I’d like to keep intel strictly between you, me and the Initiative.’ At this Wynonna looked away a little awkwardly. ‘And… whoever else you may have told?’  
‘Just Waverly… and maybe Jeremy and Nedley,’ Wynonna told him a little guiltily.  
‘It’s fine… just don’t tell Lucado they know, she might lose her cool as she is obsessed with secrecy.’  
‘I don’t know who else I’d tell,’ Wynonna admitted. ‘Those literally are all my friends.’ With a laugh, Dolls gestured for them to keep moving, they both had a schedule to keep. ‘But we are here for you… if do want our help. I know you have your high-tech snazzy Initiative, but I have to give it to him, there’s nothing like Nedley on form with one of his books.’

Chewing on the end of his cigarette, the workman lowered the digger deep into the hole. The machine bucked and groaned as the man clumsily pushed the gears into position. From the side of the trench an older man leaned on his spade that protruded from the ground and glared at his colleagues inept attempts at getting the work done.  
‘Oh come on Carl,’ he cried above the noise. ‘I got a schedule to keep!’  
‘She keeps sticking!’ Carl shouted back. The cigarette was now clamped between gritted teeth. There was now no rhyme or reason behind any of the commands he was giving the digger as he pushed buttons and pulled levers sporadically.  
‘What the bloody hell are you doing man?’ the older man screamed staggering back a little. Suddenly, the digger lurched into action and fell forward. As it did so an almighty clang rang out into the air.  
Carl stuck his head out of the digger’s cab, ‘what was that?’  
The other man slowly walked forward and peered into the deep trench, ‘I have no idea… back it up… if you can!’ Carl nodded and brought his head back in to focus on the levels. He took a deep breath and this time, seemed to be able to get the right levers to work for the action required. Still not completely smooth, the digger reversed revealing what lay at the bottom of the trench.   
Leaping from the digger, Carl joined his colleague, ‘what is it Mark?’  
They both stared down into the dark to see a huge stone coffin lying partially revealed from the dirt, ‘I have absolutely no idea mate.’ Not only did its existence perplex them enough, but the entire of the outside of the coffin appeared to be covered in ice.

Clutching his bag, Nedley followed the curator through the many halls of the museum down into the basement where all the newly arrived artefacts were stored. He couldn’t help admire some of them as he passed, but he didn’t have long as the woman was walking quickly.  
‘We have never seen anything like this,’ she said her voice shaking with excitement. ‘I didn’t know what to make of it. Then someone said that you gave your name so that if anything strange or anything that seemed other worldly came in we could call you…’ she turned a corner and walked through a door into a large room completely empty of anything except one object. ‘So we did.’  
Nedley’s eyes fell upon the dark stone coffin. It was still completely encased in ice despite the room being at the normal room temperature. It was propped up on a table so its lid reached the top of Nedley’s shoulders. ‘I think you made the right move…’ in complete awe, he removed his glasses and cast his eyes over its impressive size. ‘And it came in like this?’ he asked referring to its frozen appearance.  
‘Came out of the ground where they’re building the new car park,’ the curator nodded.  
‘Oh don’t get me started on that… a new car park? For what cars?’ he exclaimed. ‘There’s no one here.’  
‘That’s what they’re hoping to change by making more parking,’ the woman chuckled. ‘A little bit of a blessing though, as if they hadn’t been digging out a stubborn tree… they would have never found this.’ She pointed to the coffin returning Nedley’s attention back to the reason he was there.  
‘Right…’ as he gazed over its lid he saw strange markings cascading down the middle of it making the shapes of waves. ‘Any idea what language this is?’  
‘We have checked every book and database we have… we hoped you could tell us.’  
Nedley returned his glasses to his head and began to run his fingers along the words. However, as soon as his skin made contact with the ice he recoiled back wincing in pain, ‘by George!’  
The curator smirked at his cry, ‘we learnt not to touch it very quickly.’  
Keeping his hand and body well back, Nedley awkwardly bent over the coffin to try and read the writing. His eyes followed the entire length of the words and back but he could not make any sense of it. ‘Can you arrange for this to be shipped to my library? I need to compare this to the many languages I have in my books.’  
‘I think I can, we’re not really sure what to do with this here…’  
Nedley smiled at the intriguing woman before looking back at the coffin. It was one of the most incredible things he had ever seen. Whether there was someone inside was a complete mystery. The only indication that it was a coffin at all was its size and shape, but in truth, it could have been anything… containing absolutely anything.

‘Wow… that’s a… that’s a thing!’ Jeremy exclaimed as he entered the library the next afternoon.  
Irritated, Nedley rose from his chair and book he had been reading, ‘didn’t you see the sign?’ he snapped.   
‘What the library closed one?’ Jeremy retorted.  
‘Exactly!’  
Jeremy laughed, ‘Nedley it’s me. Doesn’t that sign apply to everyone that isn’t me, Waverly or Wynonna?’  
Nedley rolled his eyes and returned to his seat, ‘I hoped it would apply to everyone.’ The teenager’s eyes were now back on the coffin, still covered completely in its thick layer of ice. He took his shoulder bag off and dumped it on the floor. His mouth open in amazement he reached his hands forward. Nedley leapt up just in time to stop Jeremy from having the skin of his palms frozen off. ‘You don’t want to touch that.’  
‘What the hell is it?’ Jeremy asked retracting his hands away from it quickly.  
‘That is what I’m trying to find out… care to pick up a book and help me?’  
‘Oh I can do better,’ Jeremy grabbed his bag and whipped out his laptop.  
‘I don’t think you can goggle this Jeremy.’  
‘It’s google,’ Jeremy laughed as he sat down. ‘And don’t you dismiss the power of the google.’  
‘Okay,’ Nedley went on refusing to be defeated. ‘How are you going to google a language that you can’t read?’  
‘That’s easy… google translate,’ Jeremy shrugged. He rose with a pad of paper and studied some of the wording. He found what he thought was the beginning and jotted it down. Returning to his laptop, he typed them in skilfully and pressed enter. His face fell immediately.  
Amused, Nedley looked over at him, ‘no luck?’  
‘It says language is not recognised,’ Jeremy stated slumping back in his chair. ‘Google has never abandoned me before…’  
‘Looks like it’s back to the old fashioned way then,’ Nedley grinned delighted. He took one of the lighter books in his hand and threw it over to Jeremy. Jeremy jumped a little startled as it landed in his lap. Begrudgingly he opened it and began to read.  
Later that evening, Jeremy was now no longer alone as Nedley found his sign once again ignored. Sipping coffee, Wynonna had now joined Jeremy as they continued to trudge through the seemingly endless amount of books that were giving them no answers at all.  
‘Where’s Waverly?’ Wynonna asked.  
‘I have no idea… I thought she was with you,’ Jeremy replied not looking up from his book.  
‘If there’s anyone we need here right now, it’s Waves… there’s nothing going on tonight. What else could she possibly be doing?’

Secluded behind surrounding trees, the view that craved to be admired was being ignored as from their seats in Nicole’s car; Waverly and Nicole only had eyes for each other. Remembering how Waverly felt in her arms, Nicole longed to have her there again but she held back patient and respectful.  
‘So…’ Nicole smiled turning off the ignition and sitting back in her seat.  
Waverly inhaled deeply, ‘so…’  
Nicole could tell Waverly was nervous; she looked out at the beautiful view in front of them. ‘I will always thank Doyle for showing me the way to this place.’  
Waverly couldn’t look at the view; she was too focused on something else, ‘where would you be if you weren’t here?’  
The vampire’s head bowed, she was ashamed at the thought, ‘probably still scrabbling about in alley’s in New York, sleeping on the streets, being a general disgrace.’  
‘Did you ever think about going back to Shae?’  
Nicole glanced at her briefly, ‘I did…’  
‘You did?’ exhaled Waverly surprised.  
‘Despite my soul, I wasn’t human… I couldn’t live a normal life and I was sick of being an outcast. So I tracked her down in France and I tried.’ Nicole told her. ‘I didn’t want her, I didn’t love her. I just wanted to belong.’  
A horrible thought crossed Waverly’s mind, ‘did… did you kill people?’  
Nicole shifted awkwardly in her seat, ‘I did.’ She looked at Waverly as the girl looked away horrified. ‘But only criminals, people that were not of the law.’ She reached out and took Waverly’s hand. ‘I would never, could never hurt anyone innocent.’  
‘But they were still… people.’ Waverly couldn’t look at her.  
‘Bad people Waves,’ she searched desperately for some understanding. ‘But their deaths cut me up like all the others.’  
Waverly looked at Nicole’s hand in hers. Tentatively, she brought her other hand across and with her index finger began to draw lines over the back of Nicole’s hand. ‘What did Shae think of that?’  
‘She didn’t catch on for a while, but when she did, she wasn’t happy… in fact she was enraged I thought she might stake me. She felt so betrayed, maybe because of how she felt about me. So when I came back one night, she was waiting with a test for me.’  
‘What?’ Waverly asked looking up.  
Nicole’s eyes grew sad, ‘she brought me a baby.’  
‘A baby?’ Waverly almost exclaimed.  
‘The ultimate innocence.’ Nicole went on. ‘If I couldn’t kill it, it would reveal what I was really was and what I really wasn’t. When I looked at that baby in the cot, I knew that if I killed it there was no going back but also if I didn’t kill it, there would be no acceptance from Shae either. I would definitely be on my own.’  
Waverly’s eyes flitted between Nicole’s, ‘you didn’t kill it?’ She knew the answer, but she was not certain.  
‘Of course I didn’t,’ Nicole smiled. ‘I took that baby, jumped out of the window before Shae could react and took it back to its family. I was on the streets from then on, I couldn’t go back ever again… until Doyle found me and directed me here.’ She squeezed Waverly’s hand. ‘I had no idea just how much it would change my life.’  
Waverly gazed into her eyes, ‘and how much it would change mine.’  
‘I don’t think Doyle had that in mind,’ Nicole joked softly.  
‘A happy accident…’ Her eyes moved to Nicole’s lips. Her mind was still swimming with all her conflicting thoughts about the vampire in front of her. There was so much good in her, Waverly could feel it when they were together. But ultimately she was a demon, a creature of the underworld that would never be living, never part of the human world. Waverly wanted to desperately, just as Nicole did, to forget that as a soulless vampire she had killed so many people.  
The lock of their eyes was broken by the piercing sound of Waverly’s phone in her bag. A little startled, Waverly let go of Nicole’s hand and fumbled in her bag to find it. ‘Hey Earp,’ she said as she answered it. ‘Sorry, you have a what in the where?’ Nicole smothered a laugh at the strange question. ‘Okay… sounds interesting, I’ll be there. What am I doing?’ She glanced at Nicole who waited for her answer intrigued. ‘Um… nothing…’ It wasn’t a convincing answer. ‘Yep… see you soon.’ She hung up and looked at Nicole a little apologetically. ‘Can you take me to the library?’  
Nicole chuckled as she started the car, ‘shall I drop you off in the shadows to ensure we’re not seen?’ Waverly shot an amused smirk at her as they pulled away from the beautiful view and back towards town.

‘Wow, that’s quite a thing!’ Waverly gasped as she entered the library.   
‘Finally!’ Wynonna cried jumping up from her book. ‘Where have you been?’  
In her mind, Waverly panicked, ‘just chilling out at home.’  
Jeremy was onto her, ‘does that chilling out at home include a red head?’  
‘No,’ Waverly tried.  
Wynonna laughed, ‘oh we’re so onto you Gibson.’  
Waverly admitted defeat, ‘am I that bad of a liar?’  
‘No, you have that bad a whipped face,’ Wynonna chuckled.  
Waverly took off her bag and dumped it on the table, ‘well if you must know, nothing happened.’  
‘Still?… Jesus Waves, what are you waiting for?’ Jeremy asked.  
‘For her to not be a vampire,’ Waverly admitted. ‘It’s kinda a big problem.’  
‘She’s a vampire with a soul though Waves…’ Jeremy reminded her.  
‘But still a vampire,’ Waverly said sadly as she walked over to the coffin which was still covered in ice and wasn’t showing any sign of melting. ‘So what is this?’  
‘Weeeeee…. have no idea,’ Jeremy groaned. ‘Nedley has been stewing in his office like England lost a game of cricket and Wynonna and I have had no luck in translating that language on the top.’ Waverly glanced at it and for her there was something familiar about it. ‘Do you have any idea?’  
As Waverly’s eyes cast themselves over it, she began to recognise more and more but it seemed to be hypnotising her to say nothing, ‘I don’t… no,’ she replied but her words were not her own.  
‘Right that’s it!’ Wynonna cried slamming her book closed. ‘If Waves doesn’t know then this is impossible and we’ve been here for hours. Nedley!’ she looked to see if he heard then she realised she didn’t care. ‘I’m going patrolling, I need to hit something!’ She gathered up her bag and jacket and made her way towards the door. ‘Good luck guys.’  
Just as she left, Nedley appeared at his office door, ‘was that Wynonna?’  
‘Yeah, she’s gone patrolling and I’m afraid my man, I’m going to head off too, my head is cooked,’ he closed his laptop and began to put it in his bag. ‘If you find out anything, give me a shout and I’ll come back.’ He nodded his goodbyes to Waverly as she acknowledged him before looking back at the writing.  
‘Just you and me then Nedley,’ Waverly said.  
‘Well… actually, I’m going to head back to my apartment,’ Nedley said as he collected his jacket. ‘I have some more books there that might have some answers as I’m not coming up with anything.’ He passed her as he put it on. ‘Do not do anything with that coffin without me. If you find anything, anything at all… you call me okay.’  
‘Okay,’ Waverly agreed a little afraid of his stern eyes. Nedley looked between Waverly and the coffin a little apprehensively, but knew that he had no choice to leave them. Waverly watched him go, just as the others had. Once he was out of the doors, her eyes returned to the scripture on the top. She rushed over to her bag and took out the book that Mattie had given her. She flicked through the pages and found a page which had writing very similar to what was on the top of the coffin. ‘A spell?’ she whispered to herself. ‘This is magic…’ she remembered the ice. ‘Well duh Waverly, ice usually melts in room temperature.’ She shook herself to get rid of her little idiotic slip. Her eyes focused on the words in the book and before she knew what she was doing, she began to read them. Just like all other spells, it seemed strange at first, then it started to come naturally.   
At first the only sound in the room was Waverly reading out the words on her page, but suddenly another sound joined her, one of ice cracking. Waverly stopped reading immediately and moved back from the coffin. Her eyes widened as cracks continued to appear in the ice all around it. These split and shattered until the cracks were gaping and the ice could no long hold on. Amazingly, the ice all splintered at the same time and dropped away on to the floor but just before it could hit the tiles it evaporated into nothing and disappeared completely.   
For a moment, all was quiet as Waverly gaped at the coffin then a mighty bang rang out from inside. Something within the coffin was trying to get out. Waverly backed away a little more as another bang pierced the air, then another, then another. With the fourth the lid of the coffin flew off and clattered onto the floor. Staring, Waverly was frozen in shock. From out of the coffin a man sat up. He looked as if he had stepped out of a Western in black and white. He clothes were old fashioned and his skin was white. His eyes black except for the very centre which glowed bright blue, he slowly looked round at Waverly who stared back petrified. The man hissed through his teeth and stepped out of the coffin. He reached into his hilt and pulled out his gun as his movements jerked and looked incredibly uneasy.  
‘Where am I?’ he demanded in a rough husky voice, almost growling.  
‘I… um… I…’ Waverly stammered.  
‘Speak!’ he cried causing Waverly to jump where she stood. The man growled unimpressed. ‘Useless girl!’ Without hesitation he went to pull the trigger, but to Waverly’s relief the trigger stuck and did not release. Furious, the man growled at Waverly again before making his way towards her. From deep inside, Waverly found some strength to remember her controlling spell. She raised her hand and muttered a few words. To her completely surprise, the man was pushed backwards with such force that he hit the library desk on the other side of the room. Astonished, he clambered to his feet, ‘what devilry are you?’ He didn’t stay to find out. Staggering, he made his way out of the library as he stumbled out of the door.  
Waverly let out the breath she was holding, ‘what have I done?’

Falling out of the school, the man tried to catch his breath. He continued to stumble and stagger until he found his way into a road. He looked down at his gun with disgust and shoved it back into its hilt by his hip. No sooner had he done that, a whistled past him beeping its horn furiously at his position in the middle of the road. The man recoiled backwards completely mortified at the thing that had nearly taken him out. Another came from the other side from behind him. The man whirled round and without warning, he breathed out a thick stream of ice. It froze the car and its occupants in its place. The man coughed and held his throat completely affronted at what he had done. His eyes examined what was in front of him as he tried to take it in. Unable to stay and look any longer, he turned and ran away down the road into the darkness.

‘You did what?’ Nedley roared.  
Ashamed, Waverly sat on the chair whilst Wynonna, Jeremy and Nedley loomed over her looking appalled. ‘I didn’t know that it would do anything,’ she protested.  
‘You read a spell Waverly!’ Nedley cried waving her book in the air. ‘This is not just stuff you read out.’  
‘What were you thinking?’ Wynonna asked a little more gently but she didn’t not look any less angry.  
‘I don’t know,’ Waverly shrugged feeling tears building. ‘It was like someone was talking for me… I didn’t know what I was doing until it was done.’  
Nedley could see the young girl’s upset, ‘magic is not something to be taken lightly Waverly,’ he said with a calmer voice. ‘I’m not sure I like you dabbling in this stuff.’  
‘But that’s all I’m doing… dabbling,’ she argued.  
‘That’s how it can start Waves,’ Jeremy added.   
It seemed to hurt Waverly more when Jeremy joined in, ‘look, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to let lose, whatever that thing was, but can’t we focus on that right now and berate me later?’  
Wynonna, Jeremy and Nedley all shared glances knowing that she was right, ‘we do need to find him or it.’  
‘Okay, plan?’ Wynonna asked looking at her watcher.  
‘It wasn’t long since he left,’ Nedley said. ‘I think we load up in my car and see if we can track him down.’ They all nodded and got up to follow him out but Nedley turned to Waverly. ‘Not you…’ Waverly stopped confused. ‘I need you to look in this book and see if you can find some answers to what exactly it is that you woke up. And don’t you even think about saying any more spells… do you understand?’ Stepping back upset, Waverly nodded then watched as the others traipsed out of the door. She looked back at the empty coffin the horrible sting of guilt churning in her stomach.

It wasn’t long before Wynonna, Nedley and Jeremy found the frozen car just outside the school.  
‘Oh my god,’ Jeremy said slowly as they passed it. ‘Do you think he did that?’  
Wynonna got out of the car and walked around the one encased in ice. Inside, the couple were frozen in place. Sadly, the three could see that they had been killed due to the extreme cold. ‘Waverly has released a demon…’ she stated looking at Nedley. ‘One that breathes ice…’  
‘Makes sense with ice coffin,’ Jeremy chimed in.  
‘How am I going to fight a demon that can breathe ice?’ Wynonna asked.  
‘With a mighty big flame thrower?’ Jeremy suggested. As soon as he said it his eyes met Wynonna and they had exactly the same thought. ‘Please tell me you have his number?’  
With a grin, Wynonna took out her phone and dialled, ‘Dolls… we need you…’

Shaken and lost, the man’s eyes cast themselves over the town thrown into night. Still an image of a man not belonging of the time with his clothes and complexion, he tried to take in everything he was seeing. He tried to avoid anyone that came into his path, but this tactic only worked for so long and out of nowhere a member of the public clattered into him sending him flailing into a nearby car.  
The unwitting woman looked at him apologetically, ‘sorry…’ she began but the damage was already done. The feeling of being attacked caused anger to stir inside of him and completely out of his control he roared simultaneously spitting out another stream of ice. Just as he had with the car, he covered the entire woman freezing on her in her place. She was barely able to scream before she was silenced. Any other people in the area joined in with her scream and turned on their feet to run away. The man coughed and spluttered as if in agony once the stream of ice of stopped leaving his mouth. Through bleary eyes, he looked up horrified at his work and faltered away holding his stomach.  
‘Hey!’ an unwitting police officer was making his way across the road having seen what happened. ‘What the hell do you think you’re…’ he didn’t have time to finish before he too was trapped within an ice prison frozen to the spot right in the middle of the road. Once again, the man coughed and held his throat as a burning sensation surged through it.  
‘I’m sorry…’ he gasped. ‘I’m so sorry…’  
Just behind him, Nedley’s car screeched into the street. They spotted the first frozen woman first.  
‘Dolls!’ Wynonna pointed. He was now in the car having made his way to meet them as soon as he had got Wynonna’s call.  
‘It might be too late…’ he started.  
‘We have to try.’ Dolls nodded in agreement. Nedley stopped the car allowing Dolls to leap out. Wynonna soon followed. ‘You two stay in there.’  
‘Doesn’t look like being in a car will help,’ Jeremy reminded her.  
‘I don’t care… you can make a quick getaway. Just try to find him.’ She ordered slamming the door. Nedley and Jeremy nodded and drove off leaving Wynonna to follow Dolls to the woman. He stood opposite her looking nervous to try. There was obvious fear in his eyes. He knew what he had to do, but he hadn’t since he’d lost control. ‘Dolls…’ Wynonna urged. She could see his uncertainty. ‘You can do this.’  
At these words, Dolls took a deep breath and gently blew out flames which melted the ice instantly. From within as the case slipped away the woman fell out onto the floor. Dolls blew out a few more gentle flames to help warm her. Wynonna felt her skin and pulse. A smile appeared on her face and she nodded. Dolls found himself also smiling, relieved that the woman was alive and the fact he had kept control. Turning, both of them then laid eyes on the police officer.  
‘You got this?’ Wynonna asked. Dolls nodded; confidence flowing through him. He made his way to the policeman whilst Wynonna tore down the street in search of the man causing all the havoc.

With the books splayed out in front of her, Waverly struggled to concentrate. All she could remember were the words from Nedley, Wynonna and Jeremy. She had been so excited about her new interest and her growing power, but now she felt completely shot down and demoralised. She covered her face in her hands and tried to desperately gather herself so she could solve the problem she had created. It was only when she heard a light tapping at the window that she took her hands away. Looking up over her shoulder she saw just the thing she needed. Smiling, she moved over to the window and opened it to allow Nicole to smoothly slip inside.  
‘How are you always around when I need you?’ Waverly sighed falling into her arms.   
A little surprised at the sudden embrace, Nicole wrapped her arms around Waverly, ‘I saw them all leave but not you… wanted to check you were okay.’ She pulled Waverly away from her chest so she could see her face. She did not like the tears in the young girl’s eyes. ‘What’s wrong?’  
‘I let something out,’ Waverly said gesturing to the coffin. ‘I didn’t mean to… they’re all pretty pissed at me.’  
‘Okay?’ Nicole frowned; her eyes studying the coffin.  
‘It attacked me then left,’ Waverly went on.  
‘It attacked you?’   
Waverly smiled at her concern, ‘I’m okay… but I don’t know what this thing is or where it is.’ She broke away and returned back to her books. ‘The others are tracking it down now.’ She sat down looking over the books completely overwhelmed. ‘But they’ll be fighting blind unless I find some answers.’  
Nicole removed her long leather coat and sat down beside Waverly, ‘how can I help?’  
Again, a smile spread across Waverly’s mouth, she picked up a book and handed it to Nicole, ‘how long has it been since you did any studying?’  
‘Never,’ Nicole laughed taking the book. ‘I didn’t go to school. My father wanted me at home… I think you can guess why.’ Her eyes met Waverly’s as the human looked at her sympathetically. Nicole however wanted to shake off the memory. ‘But… I taught myself to read and its one of my favourite things to do now so… what am I looking for?’  
‘To be honest… I have no idea…’  
‘Right…’ Nicole looked a little perplexed.  
‘Welcome to researching Nedley style.’

Groaning in pain, the man left his final victim frozen on the floor as he staggered on to the edge of town. He recognised barely anything, but soon he found a track that seemed familiar. He looked behind him to see if he was being followed before trudging his way along the dirt road into the pitch black. Colour seemed to be returning to his face as he used the wooden fence to find his way through the night. He had to stop regularly to deal with the pain pulsing through his body. Finally, he reached an old abandoned house with wooden slats blocking up the windows and the door boarded up. The man stumbled up the stairs to stand opposite the door. The house clearly had meaning as he took a moment breathing deeply. Scrunching up his face, he found some strength to break down the door before moving inside.  
Inside the dilapidated house looked as if it hadn’t been inhabited for years. Empty and falling apart it had been completely cleared out. The floorboards were broken in various places, all glass was gone from the windows and bricks were crumbling off the fireplace. The man looked around him as if disorientated before choosing to stagger into what used to be a living room. He stood in the middle looking around before more anguish rushed into his body and he fell to his knees.  
Just down the road, Wynonna and Dolls had come across the latest victim and were relieving him from his ice prison. They both saw the track and using Dolls’ torch they saw the footprints from where the man had stumbled down it. Knowing that she had a powerful weapon in Dolls, Wynonna proceeded with Dolls close behind her. They were determined to take this demon out.

‘Here!’ Nicole cried out. Waverly looked away from her book and at Nicole’s. For the first time, their eyes lay on the first major clue that they had found. A picture of the coffin lay clearly on the page surrounded by writing that looked very similar to that in Waverly’s book and on the top of the coffin. ‘Can you read that?’  
Waverly took the book, ‘I’m not sure I should…’  
‘Read it in your head,’ Nicole suggested. ‘If anything starts to happen… I’m here…’  
Reassured, Waverly took the book and began to read the writing. She was shocked once again that she seemed to understand it. ‘It says that it is a spell…’ Her fingers traced the words. ‘A preserving spell…’  
‘A preserving spell?’  
‘Preserving against…’ she read on. ‘Against death.’ Her eyes continued to flow over the words. ‘This spell preserves someone who is dying or sick. It’s only been used twice in history because of how dangerous it is.’ She turned the page. One the other side was a picture of a demon, jagged as if made out of stone. ‘It uses the essence of Hinock a - surprise surprise - an ice demon, to preserve and give the subject strength when waking up…’ her eyes widened. ‘But this is only temporary… ultimately the subject is not a demon…’ she stopped and looked up at Nicole. ‘They’re human.’  
‘He’s human?’ Nicole checked.  
‘Oh god… Wynonna thinks it’s a demon…’  
‘She’s going to kill an innocent man.’ Waverly looked terrified. ‘We have to tell her.’  
‘I’ll drive.’

Nodding, Dolls continued have Wynonna’s back as she made her way up the stairs up to the blown in front door. It lay angled and broken on the floor. Stepping in, Wynonna kept her guard up as she looked around for the man. Her eyes fell on him as he knelt on the floor in the middle of the room. She glanced over her shoulder at Dolls. He had seen the man too. Cautiously, they made their way forward. A creak in the floorboard caused the man to leap to his feet and stand on guard at those that approached him. He breathed deeply, icy breath filling the air in front of him. Dolls’ forehead glowed; he too was ready to fight.  
‘Quite a scene you’ve caused out there,’ Wynonna said as she inched forward.  
‘Who are you?’ he snarled.  
‘You don’t know?’ Wynonna said surprised. ‘Most demons know exactly who I am.’  
‘Should I?’ the man held his arms out as if waiting for the dawn shoot out. He was on edge, ready and poised. ‘You’re no one to me.’  
Wynonna straightened, ‘that’s rude.’  
Angered, the man breathed out spewing ice forward. However, it was weaker than his first deadly breaths which allowed Wynonna to launch herself forward and roll out of the way. Once she was back on her feet, Dolls came in and used his fire to melt the ice into nothing.  
Stunned, the man whirled round to look at the army man, ‘I despise fire.’ The man’s eyes glowed blue as he tried to attack Dolls. Their powers met in the middle. For a few moments, ice met fire and their powers were locked one diminishing the strength of the other. However soon, Dolls’ strength began to overcome that of the man’s. The stream of ice became shorter and shorter until fire hit his body and he flew backwards against the wall of the house. Its weakened state caused it to crumble around the man as he landed on the floor. He gasped and wheezed before forcing himself to stand up.  
Wynonna took her chance and grabbed the man by his collar and threw a fist across his face. Infuriated, the man breathed out again covering Wynonna’s face with ice. She fell backwards reeling trying to pull it off. Before the man could launch another attack, fire hit his face and he was sent sprawling again. Dolls gently breathed flames onto Wynonna’s face. She gasped for air as it the ice disintegrated on her face.  
‘Leave this to me…’ Dolls told her. Wynonna nodded as she continued to cough and recover.  
More flames hit the man. It didn’t burn him, it caused him to writhe and jerk in agony on the floor. He was clearly weakening as he gasped and cried out. Dolls did not relent, determined to see him to his end.   
Behind him, leaning back against the wall, Wynonna heard her phone go off in her pocket. Still taking deep breaths she pulled it out and answered it. She saw that she had at least eight missed calls from Waverly and it was Waverly ringing again. ‘Hey Waves… not a good time right now…’ she stopped to listen. ‘He’s what? Wait… wait… wait… and your saying that? Okay…’ she looked over at Dolls as he let another tirade of flames hit the man that was now lying motionless on the floor. ‘…. Oh crap…’ she hung up and leapt to her feet. ‘Dolls!’ she screamed. Dolls did not hear her as he breathed again. Wynonna threw herself forward and pushed Dolls away from the man lying on the floor.  
‘Wynonna!’ he cried bewildered. ‘What are you…?’  
‘He’s human!’ she told him.  
‘He’s what?’  
Wynonna turned back to the man that was still alive, just. ‘He’s human…’ her voice told Dolls that the slayer was surprised as she was. Slowly and carefully, Wynonna approached the man as he began to move again. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Wynonna pushed him back so she could see his face. He looked up at her the blue in his eyes draining away. Colour had now completely returned to his face and his skin was warm to touch. The ice that had tinged one edge of his moustache was now melted and gone.  
Breathing deeply he looked up into the slayer’s eyes, ‘what year is it?’   
Wynonna looked bemused at the question but felt compelled to answer, ‘2017.’  
Pushing himself up the man looked almost horrified, ‘oh my god…’ he eased himself back against the wall behind him. He held his stomach once again but could feel the painful feeling of the demon fading away. ‘I wasn’t supposed to be asleep for so long…’  
Wynonna studied the man, ‘who are you?’  
The man looked up into her eyes, they were now human and despondent, ‘I’m Henry, or you can call me Doc,’ he replied. 

1881

‘You don’t have to do this,’ the woman to Doc as he stood next to the coffin.  
Doc looked at the woman. With adoration he traced his hand over her face and touched her cheek before coughing painfully into his blood soaked handkerchief, ‘it’s the only way,’ he wheezed. ‘The doctor can’t save me.’  
‘But this might kill you,’ her dark brown eyes leaked a stream of tears down her cheeks.  
He smiled, ‘I’m dead anyway.’ He bent down and placed a loving kiss on her lips. After letting the moment linger he pulled out and placed their foreheads together. ‘Hopefully when we’re found, they’ll have a cure for this thing and we can be together.’  
She nodded against his head, ‘I love you.’  
‘I love you,’ he replied. He kissed her again before turning away unable to take the ache any longer. He glanced over the warlock standing in the corner of the room and nodded. Awkwardly, whilst coughing Doc climbed into the prepared coffin and lay down. Crying, his lover backed away.  
As the warlock dressed in a black robe walked forward, his raised his hands and began to chant. The lid rose by itself from the floor and slid into place before blue lights began swirling around the coffin. They danced before orbiting it moved faster and faster. The warlock’s chanting rose in its volume as the lights swirled faster and faster. Soon they were so fast that the coffin was soon a blur and almost invisible. The woman continued to cry and couldn’t watch any longer. Wailing, she ran from the room and out of the house. Not long after her departure, the warlock stopped chanting and began to step back. The lights slowly slowed down and seemed to fade away revealing the coffin encased in the thick layer of ice in which it had been found. Slowly, the warlock removed his hood and made his leave of the property. In his place, came six others who used their magic to levitate the coffin and take it outside to bury.  
Not far from the house, Doc’s lover broke down against the wooden fence. She covered her hand as she came to grips with what she had just seen. She too would undergo the same spell, but she first had to source another coffin exactly like the one in which Doc had just been enclosed. The thought of not being successful and spending her life without him was unbearable.  
‘Wow… you must really love him to let him go like that…’ she looked up stunned to see a strange woman appear from the darkness of the bushes. ‘Huh Rosita? I don’t think I could do that.’  
‘Who… who are you?’ Rosita stammered straightening. The woman knew her name but Rosita had never seen her before.  
The woman almost floated as she walked, ‘I’m… your saviour…’ she smirked at the heartbroken woman. Then her face morphed into a vampire. Rosita gasped and stepped back. ‘I love it when people react like that…’  
‘What’s wrong with your face?’ Rosita asked horrified.  
Willa looked insulted, ‘Oh, not nice…’ she shot forward and took Rosita up in her arms. ‘That needs to be punished.’ She tipped Rosita’s head to one side to lengthen her neck. ‘I’m going to keep you existing in a way your precious Doc will not expect… that’s if he’s still alive.’  
‘What?’ Rosita pleaded.  
‘Oh honey… he’s probably dead,’ she sneered. ‘I wouldn’t hold out any hope that he will ever be back amongst us… but…’ she sneered. ‘Just in case… let’s make a little surprise for him when he does.’ She clamped her hand over Rosita’s mouth causing Rosita’s body to go rigid with fear. She tried to squirm and wriggle free but Willa’s grip was simply too strong. The vampire bared her teeth and sunk them into Rosita’s neck. Her body hummed with glee. If Doc ever did wake up, he would not wake up the lover he had taken such a dangerous risk for.

Having been let in by Gus, Wynonna made her way up the stairs to Waverly’s room. Respectfully, she knocked on the door and waited for the call to allow her to go in. It came and Wynonna carefully opened the door and found Waverly sitting on her bed reading. Upon seeing Wynonna, she placed the book down and smiled weakly.  
‘Can I…?’ Wynonna asked having not entered the room completely. Waverly did not speak, instead she nodded gently. Wynonna walked forward a little awkwardly. ‘You okay?’  
Waverly sighed, ‘I guess… how’s Doc?’  
‘Weak… he’s refusing any help from us. He just wants to be alone in the house,’ Wynonna told her. ‘Dolls feels really guilty that he almost killed a human, but how were we to know?’  
‘He looked demonic,’ Waverly agreed. ‘That was Hinock… but only his essence so Doc could survive being broken from the spell.’  
‘He can no longer hurt anyone anyway,’ Wynonna concluded. ‘Apart from the first couple in the car, Dolls managed to rescue everyone else he iced.’  
‘That’s good.’  
Wynonna inched a little closer to Waverly and sat on the end of her bed. Her eyes fell upon Waverly’s spell book from Mattie. She picked it up. Waverly wished she’d spotted it and hidden it somehow. Wynonna however remained calm and just studied its cover. ‘You understand our concern don’t you?’  
‘I do…’ Waverly admitted. ‘But I just wish you guys could trust me… I had no control over setting Doc free and I’m not going to do anything major with magic anytime soon as I know I’m only a beginner.’ Wynonna smiled relieved to hear this. ‘But you have to understand that I’m so excited about this… it really feels like it’s me and what I’m supposed to do. I think it can help… help you.’  
Wynonna placed the book down and looked up into Waverly’s excited eyes, ‘I appreciate it Waves… its only because I love you so much and I don’t want anything to happen to you.’  
‘I’ll be careful, I promise.’ She got up from her position on the bed and crawled over to the slayer so they could embrace warmly. They held each other allowing the warmth of the hug to mend the momentary break in their friendship.  
‘You better,’ Wynonna said into Waverly’s shoulder. ‘Now…’ she went on as they pulled away. ‘Let’s sort out what is going on with you and Nicole…’  
‘No, let’s sort out what’s going on with you and Dolls!’ Waverly fired back.  
‘Oh Jeez… this is going to be a long night…’ the slayer groaned.


	10. The Pack

As the sun shone down on the meandering teenagers, Waverly, Jeremy and Wynonna made their way leisurely through the various enclosures of Calgary Zoo. Despite the slight autumn chill it was a lovely warm day which allowed the day out of the school to be even more enjoyable.  
‘So, remind me why we’re at the zoo instead of school?’ Wynonna asked as they passed one of the monkey cages.  
‘Something to do with Biology,’ Jeremy replied. Waverly and Wynonna looked at him surprised at his short answer. ‘What? Would you like me to go into detail?’  
‘Nope,’ the girls replied in unison. They were perfectly content that instead of sitting in a lab they were given freedom to be outside for the duration of a normal school day.  
‘Speaking of Biology, I gotta pee… catch you guys in a bit?’ Wynonna piped up spotting the bathrooms nearby.  
‘We’ll be here,’ Waverly said finding a bench. Jeremy took a seat beside her as Wynonna disappeared around the corner. Over by the monkey cage, Waverly spotted someone paying a little more attention to Jeremy than normal. Jeremy was too busy looking through the zoo guide to notice. Waverly tried to hide her amused smile. She leaned into Jeremy, ‘cute guy at one o’clock,’ she whispered.  
‘Huh?’ Jeremy replied looking up surprised.  
‘Over by the cage,’ Waverly continued. Jeremy looked up. It was the same guy that Wynonna had pointed out when he and Wynonna had watched Waverly cheerlead. ‘He’s totally checking you out!’  
‘Oh shut up,’ Jeremy told her as he looked away and back to his brochure.  
Waverly hit him playfully on the arm, ‘he totally is… you should go and say hello…’  
‘Oh I can’t do that,’ Jeremy protested. ‘If I do that I’ll start yammering and all this crap about something like… monkeys will come out, I’ll make a total fool of myself and he’ll probably never speak or even look at me again. No… its best if I just sit here and keep to myself. Less chance of horrible embarrassment and I get to keep at least some of my dignity… or what’s left of it.’ Waverly looked at him sadly, but she didn’t have time to reply due to the approach of a very unwelcome group people.  
‘You should keep yourself to yourself by staying at home… to save us having to see you at all…’  
Jeremy looked up into the face of the snarling Mercedes, ‘yes, lovely to see you too Mercedes,’ he said blankly.  
‘There’s no need for that,’ Waverly said a little timidly.  
‘Oh don’t even get me started you on Waverly…’ Mercedes continued. ‘There’s no one else more pathetic in school right now… rumour has it that Perry has even started cheating on you now…’  
To this, Waverly’s brow dropped confused, ‘he is?’ she didn’t know why, but it stung.  
‘We’ve helped him see that you are not worth waiting for… anyone is better… even Mattie, the freak, now that’s saying something,’ Mercedes sneered. Behind her, her group laughed nastily to everything she said. It was so fake it was almost like it was rehearsed. Yet, the noise of it still caused Waverly pain.  
‘Come on Mercedes, give us a break… we’re not even in school…’ Jeremy tried.  
Mercedes threw her head back and laughed, ‘oh nowhere is off limits to you being put in your rightful place… at the bottom of my shoe.’ She looked around. ‘I wonder where Perry is now Waverly, I bet he’s off with his new love… I could even have him now, that’s how over you he is. You’ll be dirt to him as well soon…’  
‘Okay, that’s enough,’ Jeremy said standing up trying to be strong.  
Taking a step forward, Mercedes put her face close to his, ‘do us all a favour Chetri… throw yourself into the lion’s enclosure.’ She glared him watching the words sink in before smiling maliciously and leaving with her group in tow.  
A little shaken, Jeremy watched them go before he looked round to the sullen Waverly still seated behind him, ‘you okay Waves?’  
‘Do you think he’s really with someone else?’ she asked.  
‘No I’m not,’ came Perry’s voice behind them. Waverly stood up instantly and turned to him. ‘I’m so sorry you had to hear all that. Mercedes she’s… she’s something else…’  
‘And you still hang out with her… despite what she is,’ Waverly snapped. Perry hung his head ashamed. ‘If you heard all that, why didn’t you stop her?’ Perry looked lost as he had no answer, at least nothing she hadn’t heard already. ‘For god’s sake Perry, if anyone can change this school it’s someone with your influence. Grow some balls!’ Angrily, she pushed past Perry and marched away passing Wynonna on her way.  
‘Did I just hear that right?’ Wynonna asked approaching Perry and Jeremy. The two guys looked at solemnly. ‘Pissed off Waverly has some serious… well… balls.’

As the day came to a close, Jeremy found himself wandering alone in the zoo as Wynonna attended to a shaken Waverly. Ever since her encounter with Mercedes, she hadn’t enjoyed the day at all. The day had been simply trying to avoid running into the group or Perry for the rest of the time they had left. Wanting to see some of the enclosures on the far side, Jeremy had made his way near the wolf area, only to find it was closed. However, as he respected the sign stating that very fact, he watched as Mercedes and a small group of her followers including Steph, Beth and Perry did not. Mercedes almost cackled as she tore down the restricted area tape and proceeded inside. Rolling his eyes irritated Jeremy looked around for someone to alert. Seeing no one around, he realised he would have to be the one to try and confront them or to document exactly what they did. Carefully, he moved through where the tape had been broken into the inside enclosure.  
Making his way slowly through the dark corridors, Jeremy made sure he could hear their voices but remained out of side hugging the wall as he walked. He could hear their laughing; it was like someone pounding on his eardrum. He had been a victim to their cruel laughter for such a long time. It wasn’t long before they came to the end of the tunnels to where the visitors’ area opened out in a cave. Behind a glass panel was the wolves’ enclosure which was bathed in darkness. Mercedes group looked into the glass making ridiculous noises and wolf howls. Upon hearing this, Jeremy couldn’t hold himself back. He took a deep breath and moved into the open so his presence could be known.  
‘You really shouldn’t do that…’ he said sternly as he walked forward towards them. ‘It could make the wolves…’  
Unknown to Jeremy, he had crossed a seal in the form of strange markings on the floor and suddenly he was made to stop talking. Like it was rehearsed, all five teenagers turned slowly to look into the enclosure. From within it, a pack of wolves moved forward. They had the group completely hypnotised. Five wolves appeared in total and for just a few seconds their eyes glowed bright red. As soon as they did, the eyes of the five teenagers did exactly the same. Their gaze was held for a short while longer before the wolves shrank back into the darkness and out of sight. Instantly, the group snapped out of it and looked at each other.  
‘I’m hungry,’ Mercedes stated.  
‘Me too…’ agreed Perry.  
They looked at Jeremy, ‘I could eat…’ the group smiled at him before they all made their way out of the cave.

Other than the fact Waverly had been punched in the face by a vampire, Nicole could tell that something was preoccupying Waverly’s thoughts. Nicole had met Waverly for an assignment Waverly had set herself; to search an old bookshop to find any more books on magic. Waverly knew she couldn’t ask Nedley and didn’t want to remove any books on the subject from his collection due to his disapproval. Unfortunately, the enjoyable exercise had been cut short when two vampires decided they would attack the shop to feed on any late shoppers. Nicole had skilfully fought and killed them saving all inside, but not before Waverly had caught a blow straight in the face. Now holding a cloth to a wound on her bleeding forehead Waverly followed Nicole down a flight of steps to an underground corridor. Nicole continuously checked Waverly’s condition as they turned another dark corner which led to a dully lit hallway with a door at the end. When Nicole removed some keys from her pocket, she realised Nicole had taken Waverly to her home.  
‘This is where you live?’ she asked as Nicole unlocked the door.  
‘My little humble abode,’ Nicole replied gesturing Waverly to go in first whilst she held the door.  
Once Nicole had flicked on the light Waverly was able to see inside. It was indeed small and humble. At one end the wall was covered in old paintings and drawings with a desk underneath. At the other was a wooden table and chair surrounded by many bookcases. There was art scattered neatly around, some in glass cases like those you would find at a museum. Waverly could see a small bathroom with a shower through one door and a small bedroom through another. The whole place was dimly lit by a few lamps placed strategically around the room. One of the most distinguishable features from a normal home, the lack of windows. It was very small, but Waverly guessed Nicole didn’t need or want much more.  
‘Right let’s see to this cut,’ Nicole removed her coat and hung it up before taking Waverly to the table and chair and sitting her down. A small fridge hummed next to one of the bookcases. When Nicole pulled it open, Waverly could see that the only thing within it, other than the ice that Nicole removed from the freezer compartment, were numerous bags of pig’s blood. It caused a momentary sting in her chest, before the door was closed and the contents were out of sight. This was the reality of who Nicole was.   
Nicole grabbed another chair which had been propped up against the wall and pushed it over so she could sit opposite Waverly. Gently, she took away the cloth Waverly was holding against her head and examined the small cut just above her eyebrow. It had stopped bleeding, but there was a little swelling. Nicole took the ice and wrapped it in the cloth so she could hold it against Waverly’s head. The young human winced at the cold.  
‘Sorry…’  
‘It’s okay,’ Waverly assured her. She remained still but used her eyes to continue to look around the room. ‘How long have you lived here?’  
‘Since I moved to Purgatory,’ Nicole told her keeping her hand in place to hold the ice. She didn’t really feel the cold. ‘Another thing Doyle helped me with.’  
‘It’s nice,’ Waverly smiled.  
‘It wasn’t when I got here. But I had no choice, I have to live underground,’ she sighed. ‘But it’s quiet and I can read my books and draw in peace.’ She shrugged softly. ‘It’ll do.’ She took the ice away and saw that some of the swelling had gone down. She went to another small cupboard on the wall and took out a first aid kit. When she sat back down Waverly could see it was brand new and hadn’t been opened yet. Nicole spotted that Waverly had noticed. ‘I heal quickly, so I don’t have much need for it.’  
‘Why do you have it then?’ Waverly asked.  
Nicole looked a little awkward as she opened it, ‘I don’t have it for me…’ She lifted her eyes so she could see into Waverly’s. She saw that Waverly had understood what she meant. Nicole could see a mixture of appreciation but also a little irritation at the assumption. ‘It was in hope that one day you might want to come here… and I wanted to be prepared for anything, due our chosen… hobbies.’  
As Nicole wiped the cut clean, Waverly looked up at Nicole demurely, ‘and why would I come here?’   
Nicole didn’t stop what she was doing, but for a moment their eyes met and held. Waverly knew exactly why Nicole hoped she would come here and in truth, Waverly had thought about it also. She ignored the stinging caused by Nicole gently dabbing her small wound and just enjoyed the depth of the eyes that gazed at her. There was so much humanity in them, she could see it.   
Then, as her concentration had been fully on Waverly’s eyes, Nicole dabbed a little too hard causing Waverly to flinch and break their eye contact, ‘sorry…’ Nicole returned her focus to her work. Her mind also returned to her concern of the quiet demeanour Waverly had shown all evening. ‘Are you okay?’ she asked. ‘You don’t seem your usual bubbly self this evening.’  
Waverly dropped her head slightly as Nicole gently applied a small plaster and began to tidy away the kit, ‘just Mercedes being Mercedes…’ she paused and glanced at Nicole briefly as the vampire sat back down. ‘… and Perry.’  
It was not secret that the mention of his name caused Nicole to recoil, ‘Perry?’  
Waverly looked awkward. She wanted to speak to Nicole about everything, but this felt a little inappropriate, ‘I don’t know why I can’t let him go.’  
Nicole buried her feelings and focused on what Waverly needed, ‘he was a big part of your life, which has changed a lot over the past month or so.’ She checked her work on Waverly’s forehead which she used as an excuse to touch the troubled girl in front of her and stroke her cheek. ‘It makes sense that your heart and mind are trying to keep up.’  
Waverly met Nicole’s eyes again, ‘I just think I know what I want… then I feel something else.’  
‘You don’t need to worry about what you want right now….’ Nicole said softly. ‘… You need to focus on who you are. It makes sense that because you’re not sure of that yet, everything else seems a bit confusing too.’  
‘What if I never figure it out?’ Waverly asked a little scared.  
Nicole smiled at the endearing girl, ‘oh I think you will… and I’m going to be right here to help you, however you need me.’ It was the comfort she needed but just to gain a little more Waverly lent forward so she could place their foreheads together. Something she instantly regretted. Crying out she moved back holding her head. Nicole couldn’t help but laugh and pulled Waverly in for a more comfortable embrace.

Wynonna found him sitting in the dark with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. Nothing had been done to the house, not even a blanket or pillow for a bed. Instead, Doc sat slumped in the corner of what used to be the living room just staring out ahead of him into nothing. Now completely human, he was feeling the pain of everything. Slowly, Wynonna crossed the room and took a seat beside him also leaning back against the wall. He acknowledged her with a little move of the head but didn’t make any effort to look at her. Instead he took another long swig of his drink. It was then that Wynonna noticed the bloodied handkerchief in his hand. It wasn’t old, it was fresh.  
‘It’s back,’ Doc slurred. ‘I can feel it squirming inside me.’  
‘What’s back?’ Wynonna frowned.  
‘The disease…’ he took another large mouthful of alcohol adding to his drunken state. ‘… the thing killing me. The thing that took me away from her.’  
‘The spell?’ Wynonna asked trying to catch up.  
‘No… the spell was supposed save me so I could see her again… the disease is what’s killing me. It was and it is again now.’ He tightened his grip around the bottle to show his anger. ‘Means there was no point to any of this.’  
Wynonna looked at the bloodied handkerchief again, ‘what disease do you have?’  
‘Back in my time it was called consumption… now nearly 140 years on it’s called…?’  
‘Tuberculosis,’ Wynonna answered. She stood up immediately. ‘You know we have cures for that now?’  
Doc stopped drinking and spluttered. Wiping his mouth, he looked up at her in disbelief, ‘consumption can’t be cured, you need medicines and doctors…’  
Smiling Wynonna knelt down so he could see her sincerity, ‘all of which we have now… as you said Doc, it’s been nearly 140 years.’  
He stared at her so desperately wanting to believe her, ‘you’re not joking are you?’  
‘I’m not.’  
Awkwardly, Doc clambered to his feet using the wall to help. He caught his breath as the room swung due to the alcohol swirling through his system. ‘Lead the way…’ As he went to step forward another coughing fit hit him. Doubled over he spluttered into his handkerchief in agony. Wynonna watched helplessly as the man doubled over and kept his balance by putting his hands on his knees. Fresh blood was added to the piece of cloth he clutched in his hand. Knowing he needed it, Wynonna put an arm around Doc’s back and helped him out of the house.

‘So he was supposed to wake up next to a coffin with Rosita in it as well?’ Waverly asked with sad eyes.  
‘Yup… so as you can imagine he’s pretty depressed right now,’ Wynonna told her as tried to finish the Math homework she should have done the night before instead of helping Doc at the hospital. ‘The whole point of the spell was to preserve him so he and Rosita could be woken up in a time where he could be cured.’  
‘So he’s here… but she’s not…’ Waverly sighed. ‘That’s harsh.’  
‘Like this Math… seriously, algebra? I’d take a small confined space in the sewers and five vampires attacking me over this…’ she groaned and threw down her pen in disgust. ‘Where’s Jeremy? He could help me…’  
‘You mean you want to persuade him to do it for you again?’ Waverly smirked.  
‘Hey, he offered… I’d been in a tight battle with that slime demon all night…’ Wynonna protested. ‘It had taken another two hours to get it all out of my hair!’  
‘Oh the troubles of a slayer…’ Waverly began before she looked up happily. ‘Hey, there he is!’ Wynonna followed Waverly’s eye line to where Jeremy was walking down the corridor. ‘Hey! Jeremy!’ Jeremy didn’t even move his head at all to look at her, like he hadn’t heard her at all. Waverly frowned confused. ‘Jeremy!’ Once again, Jeremy did not look their way. Waverly looked at Wynonna who looked as perplexed as she did. ‘You would have heard that right?’  
‘I’m not the best judge with my slayer hearing… but sure, he should have.’  
Baffled, Waverly put her bag on the table and went over to catch him just before he began up the stairs to the upper floor, ‘hey…’ he stopped looking almost a little annoyed. ‘Didn’t you hear me calling?’  
‘No… he said plainly. ‘Why should I have?’  
Waverly was a little taken back but persisted, ‘yeah… I called a few times.’ She decided to let it go. ‘Anyway… where have you been all day?’  
‘Nowhere, around,’ he shrugged. ‘Why?’  
‘We missed you this morning… for coffee. You know like we usually do?’  
‘My life isn’t all about you Waverly,’ Jeremy spat coldly. ‘That’s the problem with you and Wynonna; you think that everything is about you all the time.’  
Now bewildered, Waverly studied Jeremy. There was something cold about him. He was dressed different to usual. Instead of one of his comedic t-shirts and check shirts he was in black trousers and a black tight fitting top. ‘Are you okay?’ she asked worried.  
‘He’s fine Waverly… lay off yeah?’ From the side, Perry came to Jeremy’s side sliding a hand around Jeremy’s shoulder like they were old friends. ‘Jesus, she’s so needy isn’t she?’   
‘So needy,’ Jeremy said nastily. Waverly looked between them wondering if she had fallen asleep and this was some bad dream. ‘I can’t believe you put up with her for so long.’  
‘To be honest Chetri, I can’t believe it either.’ They both glared at Waverly, then burst into a laugh that almost snarled before walking off down the corridor. Waverly watched them go utterly disconcerted and very hurt.  
The boys had barely gone a few steps before a livid Wynonna stepped out in front of them, ‘what the hell Chetri?’  
‘Oh wow… now we’re in trouble, its Wynonna and her glare,’ Jeremy mocked.  
‘Careful man… I hear she’s weird, has some strange things going on in her life…’ Perry added.  
‘Oh if only you knew,’ Jeremy told him.  
To this, Wynonna clipped him in the ear, ‘that is enough!’ she barked. ‘I don’t know what the hell you two are playing at but you just really hurt Waverly and I won’t have it…’  
Taking his hand away from his stinging ear, Jeremy squared up to Wynonna, ‘to be honest Wynonna… I don’t really care what you think.’ He tapped Perry in the chest with the back of his hand and the two walked past Wynonna without a hint of remorse on their faces. Just as Waverly had, Wynonna watched them go dumbfounded. 

Later, a quiet Waverly and Wynonna sat in the outside courtyard wondering the reason for Jeremy’s sudden change in behaviour. It had continued throughout the day with Jeremy barely acknowledging them.  
Annoyed, Wynonna continued to stare at the algebra question in front of her, ‘damn Jeremy,’ she muttered. ‘His behaviour today is making me hate this damn problem even more.’  
‘I just don’t know what’s up with him,’ Waverly said as she stared blankly ahead of her.  
‘We never saw him after we split from at the end of the trip yesterday did we?’  
Waverly thought for a moment and realised Wynonna was right, ‘we didn’t no…’  
‘I wonder what could have happened…’  
From one side, Jeremy came back into view once again accompanied by Perry. They were joking and laughing between them as if they had been friends for years. Wynonna spotted him and tapped Waverly on the leg to get her attention. Waverly picked up her gaze and looked across the courtyard to where her old friend and Perry were talking.  
‘This just isn’t right…’ Waverly said.  
Then from the other side, Mercedes, Beth and Steph approached. Waverly and Wynonna watched for an altercation to begin due to Perry socialising with Jeremy, but instead to their astonishment the girls greeted the boys as friends. Mercedes hugged Perry whilst Jeremy embraced Steph then Beth.  
‘What the… Wynonna started but she was so shocked she couldn’t finish as even Mercedes took Jeremy in her arms. Together the group, all dressed in dark clothing, exited the courtyard and disappeared into the school all talking and laughing together. ‘No… this isn’t right at all…’

As she wandered through the grave stones, Wynonna searched her mind for any reasons why Jeremy would be acting the way he was. It hurt her enough, but it was the pain it was causing Waverly that was causing her the most concern. So completely lost in thought, Wynonna was unaware of Dolls approaching her. It was the step of his shoe on a twig causing it to snap that alerted her. Instantly, she spun and took him by the neck holding her stake ready to pounce.  
‘Woah there slayer,’ he said raising his arms in surrender. ‘It’s only me.’  
Shaking herself off, Wynonna let him go and lowered her stake, ‘sorry… I’m a little on edge.’ She tucked it into her pocket and turned away from him a little embarrassed.  
‘It’s okay,’ Dolls assured her. ‘It’s good that you’re on your toes.’  
Wynonna managed a small smile before continuing to walk. Dolls followed her. ‘Got a lot on my mind,’ Wynonna told him. ‘Doc, school and Jeremy is acting strangely.’  
‘Jeremy?’  
‘A good friend of Waverly and me… he was absolutely fine yesterday… but today,’ she stopped walking to look at Dolls. ‘It’s like he’s had a complete personality change.’  
‘Isn’t that what happens to teenagers?’ Dolls tried to joke.  
Wynonna, however, stayed completely solemn, ‘not Jeremy, not like this.’  
Dolls could now see how upset Wynonna was by this, ‘now I think about it, I remember Lucado saying that our researches have noticed an imbalance in the magic around Purgatory…’  
‘You have people who can do that?’ Wynonna asked amazed.  
‘You wouldn’t believe the things they can do in that place… stuff even I’m unaware of. There are so many locked doors in that facility,’ Dolls told her. ‘I’ll head back there now and see if I can find out anymore.’  
Wynonna looked up into his dark eyes, ‘I’d really appreciate it Dolls.’  
Dolls went to run off but hesitated, ‘you going to be okay?’  
‘I’ll be fine,’ she assured him. As she watched him go she could hardly believe that he was the demon that had nearly burnt her to death just a month or so before. Calm, collected and together, he was back to being the man that she had wanted to be on a date with before it all went so horribly wrong.

Back at the Initiative, Dolls made his way straight to the researcher’s lab. Within the room, people in lab coats monitored computer screens that all seemed to be linked to an elaborate machine in the middle of the room that buzzed and sparked behind a glass screen.  
‘Any change?’ he asked showing the technicians his badge.  
‘It’s picking up some serious energy,’ one replied typing and clicking commands into his computer. ‘We’re still trying to ascertain what it is…’  
Behind them the door flew open as Lucado entered, ‘Dolls, you aren’t usually in here…’  
‘Yes Ma’am,’ Dolls said standing to attention. ‘I have been on contact with the slayer and she suspects that we may have some unrest in Purgatory… I wondered if it was linked with what our technicians here are picking up.’  
‘Making use of our new resource,’ Lucado approved. ‘Well done Dolls.’ She turned her focus to her recruits in lab coats. ‘So, what do we have?’  
‘It’s just analysing ma’am,’ one replied respectfully.  
‘Well can’t you speed it up?’ The technician looked a little uncomfortable but continued to type in commands and read what was coming up on screen. To his relief, the machine answered his prayers. ‘Well?’  
‘It says…’ he clicked another button and the screen flicked to results. ‘Possession… it’s a possession…’  
‘Possession?’ Dolls asked. He then saw Lucado’s irritation at him talking out of turn. ‘Sorry.’  
‘What do you mean a possession?’ Lucado questioned.  
‘I’m not sure ma’am,’ the technician admitted. ‘This machine can detect what kind of spell, but not how the spell works or who it has been cast upon.’  
‘Well do we have someone who can do that?’ Lucado barked now very aggravated. From behind her one of her assistants stumbled out of the room and a few minutes later, a middle aged woman with blonde curly hair stumbled into the room. ‘Ah, can you tell me what possession spell this might be?’  
‘Not without analysing it more ma’am, but most possession spells are cast upon humans and they are possessed by a demon or in most folklore the devil.’  
‘You had me at demon and devil,’ Lucado said coldly. ‘We have to stop it.’  
Concerned, Dolls spoke up, ‘sorry ma’am… stop it as in?’  
‘Kill those who are possessed before they can hurt anyone,’ she stated.  
‘But ma’am… they’re human?’ Dolls argued gently hiding how horrified he really was.  
‘It doesn’t matter Dolls, evil is evil, even if it’s in a human and it must be stopped,’ she told him. ‘Kill the human and you usually kill the demon… aren’t I right?’ She looked back at the blonde lady who had just entered.  
‘Well um…’ she began. She was stopped by Lucado’s penetrating stare. ‘Yes… yes that’s usually the case.’  
‘Then that’s what we do,’ Lucado concluded. ‘And Dolls, if you aren’t willing to complete your duties, maybe you need to question your role and place in this Initiative.’  
Silenced, Dolls watched Lucado leave the room followed by her assistants the Initiatives chief spell translator. He looked back at the technicians in the room as they bustled around continuing to identify and analyse the energy that was sucked in from the atmosphere around Purgatory to continue to analyse what they found. He had never noticed just how black and white things were seen in Initiative which surprised him considering what he was. Maybe it was because he had been cooked up in a lab by the very government agency which ran the Initiative, but despite his acceptance by the operation, he was not going to let them hurt any human, especially one which meant so much to Wynonna. He knew the best way to prevent anything from happening, was to find out what he could first.   
Ducking out of the room, Dolls watched as the translator was called into a meeting that was to take place behind closed doors. Only Lucado, the translator and her assistants entered the room whilst all the others were dismissed. Turning into one of the corridors, Dolls saw that the library had been left empty with its staff busy elsewhere. Checking around him, Dolls entered the room hoping that he hadn’t been seen.

The next morning, Waverly and Wynonna entered the school apprehensively. Wynonna tired from her patrolling overnight and Waverly worried she might bump into Jeremy and receive another tirade of unkind words.  
‘So how’s Doc?’ Waverly started trying to find a distraction.  
‘Good…’ Wynonna said managing a small smile. ‘They’ve got him on medication and it should cure him. It was very advanced though. He must have almost been near death when he was frozen.’ She let out a small laugh. ‘You should see him in that place though Waves… he’s never seen so much technology. Watching him try and work the TV is hilarious.’  
Waverly could only imagine, ‘I’ll try and visit him soon,’ she chuckled. ‘I know he doesn’t really know me… but sounds like he needs all the friends he can get at the moment.’  
‘I think he’d like that. I think he’d prefer to talk to a real person than stare at the TV trying to work out how the people aren’t actually inside it.’  
‘Did Dolls get back to you?’ Waverly asked.  
‘No… I stayed in the graveyard pretty much all night waiting…’ Wynonna replied glumly.   
‘Dammit,’ Waverly muttered. ‘We need answers.’  
‘The imbalance he was talking about might not be Jeremy…’ Wynonna started. At Waverly’s glare she retracted her statement immediately. ‘I know, it has to be what’s going on with Jeremy.’  
‘Speaking of…’ Waverly whispered warily.  
At the end of the corridor, Wynonna and Waverly watched as the entire group came into sight. Once again, all dressed in dark clothing they walked in tight unison. Every single one of them had a menacing look on their faces which was causing people to instantly move out of their way as they walked down the corridor. One oblivious boy was too busy packing his bag to notice, but he quickly found out. Lunging forward, Perry grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the lockers. Terrified, the boy crumpled to the floor grimacing in pain. Behind the boys, Mercedes and the girls glowered through smiles as the boys cleared the way for them. It was when they were half way down the hallway that they spotted a boy by himself at the water foundation. It was Pete, the boy who had been showing interest in Jeremy.  
Not even allowing Pete a moment to get out of the way, Perry shoved him to the floor. It was done with such force that Pete slid out in the middle of the school hallway. Mercedes, Beth and Steph laughed horribly as Pete trembled whilst they loomed over him. The girls bent down and began spitting and growling in his face. Mortified, Pete covered his face as the relentless attack continued. Perry stood at the side grinning proudly at his work as the girls carried on humiliating the poor boy.  
At the end of the corridor, Waverly’s horrified eyes found Jeremy who was standing a little apart from the group and had a completely different look on his face. He looked in pain, like he was trying to fight something within him. His eyes were flitting between Perry, the girls and Pete on the floor. He started shaking himself and doubling over. He moved forward as if he was going to help Pete, but just as he did so he was sent reeling back as if some invisible force had shoved him backwards. He hit the lockers with a mighty crash and Waverly observed as his eyes glowed red, just for a moment. Once they had, Jeremy returned to the stoic appearance that had overcome him for the past two days. Bewildered, Waverly turned to tell Wynonna what she had just seen, but the slayer was already marching down the corridor towards the group as they continued to attack Pete.  
‘Get away from him!’ she cried shoving Perry to one side. At this, the girls stopped their abuse and stepped back. They didn’t look scared however, just amused. Wynonna ignored this and offered Pete a hand to stand up. ‘You should ashamed of yourselves.’ She moved Pete behind her and glared at them. Her eyes then turned to Jeremy turning hurt and confused. ‘What the hell Chetri?’   
Whatever Jeremy had tried to fight inside of him had won as he looked unmoved at Wynonna’s plea. Instead a nasty smirk appeared on his face as he moved to join the rest of the gang. They looked at Wynonna and Pete as if they were nothing but prey and began to move away back down the corridor. As they disappeared around the corner, the rest of the students left behind tried to carry on with their day, but every single one of them were visibly shaken. Behind her, Pete covered his face with his hands as he trembled. Wynonna could sense this behind her.  
‘Are you okay?’ she asked turning to him.  
‘I don’t know,’ he admitted. ‘What did I do?’  
‘Nothing… absolutely nothing,’ she assured him. ‘There is something seriously wrong with all of them at the moment.’  
‘I mean Jeremy…’ he stopped and looked as if he was about to cry. Wynonna could see that the boy’s heart had been broken as he crush turned out to be someone had was not expecting. ‘I didn’t think he was like that.’  
‘He’s not,’ Wynonna said quickly. She looked over her shoulder. ‘That is not the real Jeremy.’  
‘Really?’ His face brightened a little. ‘What’s going on? I mean, is he on drugs or something?’  
Wynonna allowed herself a short laugh, ‘trust me… I wish he was on drugs…’  
‘I saw his eyes!’ Waverly cut in as she ran up to join them.  
‘His eyes?’ Wynonna questioned gesturing subtly to the fact Pete was standing right next to her.  
Waverly understand her intent immediately, ‘we have to find Nedley.’  
Wynonna nodded agreeing, ‘you okay?’ she checked with Pete. Still a little shaken, Pete nodded whilst retrieving his bag and throwing it over his shoulder. ‘Stay away from them.’ With a quick check around them, Wynonna and Waverly hurried away down the corridor towards the library.

‘His eyes glowed?’ Nedley asked.  
‘Yes, red like fire,’ Waverly replied. ‘I watched it. He was trying to fight it, whatever is inside him but it won.’  
‘You think he’s possessed?’ Nedley continued. ‘By what?’  
‘That’s why we’re here Neddles, you’re the man when it comes to this,’ Wynonna said gesturing to the books.  
Nedley rolled his eyes, he had got used to her exasperating nickname for him, ‘it’s not a lot to go on Wynonna, I need you to go through all of his behaviours so I can begin to narrow it down.’  
‘No need...’ the group spun round surprised to hear Dolls’ voice as he strode into the library.  
‘Dolls, what are you doing here?’ Wynonna asked surprised.  
‘I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you last night, I’ve been trying to find out what is going on all day…’ he held a book in his hand and handed it to Nedley. ‘I used our spell detectors, without the technicians’ knowledge, to track down where the recent imbalance was originating from. They narrowed it down to the zoo.’  
‘The zoo?’ Waverly cut in.  
‘The wolf enclosure,’ Dolls went on. ‘It’s an area out of bounds at the moment as it’s under work but I figured they must have gone in. When I entered a seal had be drawn onto the floor.’  
‘A seal?’ asked Nedley.  
‘Page 42,’ Dolls told him pointing at the book.  
Nedley put the book down on the table behind him whilst the rest of the group gathered around behind him. Quickly, he flicked through the pages until he reached the desired page. There on page 42 was the seal that Dolls was referring to, a round circle with the artistic impression of the outline of a wolf staring right up out of it surrounded by symbols. Scanning over the writing underneath it, Nedley got the answers that they were all looking for.  
‘It’s a wolf possession?’  
‘Seems that way… though something tells me they aren’t your normal wolves,’ Dolls said.  
‘Demon wolves?’ Waverly realised how ridiculous it sounded as soon as she said it.  
However, no one laughed. If Waverly had said that to anyone else it would have sounded absurd, but to the people standing around her, it wasn’t strange at all.  
‘It says here that the longer they stay possessed, the more their behaviour will deteriorate until they take on the full characteristics of the animals,’ Nedley read from the book.   
‘How did they become possessed in the first place?’ Wynonna asked.  
‘I have no idea,’ Dolls told her. ‘All I saw was the seal on the floor. Someone must have drawn it but I couldn’t find anyone around. The whole wolf area was completely empty apart from the wolves themselves.’  
‘Well… how do we reverse it?’ Wynonna questioned not liking the sound of the fact that Jeremy was in danger of becoming a wolf.  
Nedley traced his fingers down the page and onto the next to find the answers they needed, ‘we need to get them all back on the seal and then say these words.’ He pointed to them. ‘Then the wolf possession will jump back into the original animals.’ He read on. ‘Someone must be behind this as someone would have had to do a spell to start the possession. It must be someone at the zoo.’  
‘Right, Dolls… can you see if you can find whoever might be behind this by going to the zoo?’ Dolls nodded in acknowledgement. ‘Nedley, you look into what we need to make saw we can reverse the possession. Waverly, you and I will try and round up the wolf people.’  
‘As they might be anywhere, shall I get Nicole to help?’ Waverly suggested.  
Wynonna smirked kindly, ‘any excuse to see her eh?’ she said quietly to her friend. Waverly was too embarrassed to reply. ‘Nedley, do you think we have everything we need?’  
‘Everything except one,’ Nedley replied. Wynonna looked quizzical. ‘A Jeremy to help me source ingredients, he’s always so good at that.’  
‘We’ll get him back Nedley,’ Wynonna reassured him determined. ‘We have to.’ 

As Wynonna left the library, she found Waverly waiting for her in the corridor.  
‘You okay?’ Wynonna asked at Waverly’s thoughtful face.  
Waverly hesitated then brought herself to speak, ‘do you think it could happen?’  
‘What?’  
‘Me… and…’ she cleared her throat nervous. ‘Me and Nicole?’  
Wynonna smiled, ‘why do you ask?’  
‘Because I really like her Wynonna, but… she’s a vampire.’  
‘Oh Waves,’ Wynonna laughed softly. ‘She’s human in the important ways.’  
‘She’s technically dead Wynonna,’ Waverly reminded her. ‘Doesn’t have a heart beat…’  
‘She drinks blood,’ Wynonna added.  
‘Has no body heat…’  
‘Doesn’t breathe…’  
‘No to mention the can’t stand in the sun thing…’ Waverly finished glumly.  
Wynonna saw the problem, but shook herself out of it, ‘Waverly… those things don’t matter. Any idiot can see that she is so into you and will do anything to protect you.’ Waverly’s face brightened. ‘Does she make you happy?’  
‘Every time I’m with her,’ Waverly admitted. ‘I miss her when I’m not.’  
‘See…’ Wynonna hit her playfully on the arm. ‘Did you ever feel like that about Perry?’  
‘I thought I did…’  
‘But did you really?’ Wynonna pushed.  
After a few moments, Waverly shook her head, ‘no… it felt safe with him, but I was never… I never got the butterflies…’  
‘Oh dear Lord you’ve got the butterflies,’ Wynonna teased.  
‘Isn’t that a good thing?’  
‘Nope… it means you’re completely whipped and there’s no hope,’ Wynonna joked as she started walking away down the corridor. ‘Come on… we better save Jeremy before you’re another useless teenager with an all-consuming crush!’  
‘I think it’s too late…’ Waverly whispered to herself before she ran after Wynonna as they made their way out of the school.

Remembering where Nicole had led her the day before, Waverly flew down the stairs to the underground corridor which took her to Nicole’s front door. Waverly assumed she would be there as it was only just getting dark outside and Nicole would not have been able to move around during daylight hours. Waverly put her hand up to knock but saw the door was ever so slightly ajar. Cautiously, Waverly pushed the door open and entered the small underground apartment. At first it seemed empty, then a sight greeted her eyes which took Waverly completely by surprise and her breath away.  
Emerging from the bedroom, Nicole walked into the main living area in only a pair of her black jeans and her black lace underwear. Waverly’s breath caught in her throat as her eyes followed Nicole’s slender figure from her distinctive abs, over her chest, up her elegant neck to the beautiful face that wore an expression of also being pleasantly surprised. Nicole did not react at all to her slightly revealing situation. Instead she smiled coyly at the girl frozen before her and reached deliberately over to the back of one of the chairs to where a black tank top lay strewn. This caused her to bend forward slightly, exposing that little bit more to the human who stared on speechless. She made sure to turn to face Waverly wholly and meet the girl’s eyes whilst she pulled the garment over her head and tugged it down into place. Waverly had viewed the entire thing completely awestruck at the vampire’s exquisiteness.  
‘Waverly?’ Nicole chuckled. She did not answer. ‘Waverly?’ She repeated a little louder enjoying the effect she had had. She could hear Waverly’s heart thumping in her chest as Waverly found herself biting her lip.  
‘Huh… what… yes?’ Waverly stammered shaking herself out of it.  
The vampire laughed as she crossed the room to where Waverly stood rooted to the spot, ‘you okay?’  
Coherent thoughts finally returned to Waverly’s mind, ‘yes um… no… I’m… um…’ at least, she thought they had. She shook herself again. ‘We need your help.’  
‘That’s a shame,’ Nicole said flirtatiously as she moved a little closer. ‘I thought you were here to see me.’ Her hands hung by her sides but they itched to embrace the girl in front of her.  
‘I am,’ Waverly said a little too quickly. ‘I mean… of course, it’s just because…’ she could not get the image of Nicole’s elegant body out of her mind; its slim lines and fair complexion. It was holding all her intelligible thoughts hostage. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ‘We need your help.’  
It was Nicole’s turn to bite her lip. Waverly’s inability to hide her feelings was utterly adorable to the vampire. ‘Okay… so you need my help.’ She walked away to grab her leather jacket and pull it on. ‘Care to elaborate?’  
‘Jeremy is a wolf,’ Waverly blurted out without thinking.  
‘Jeremy is a wolf?’ Nicole repeated calmly raising an eyebrow.  
Once again, Waverly allowed herself a moment, ‘he’s possessed by one, we think.’ She tried to avoid looking into Nicole’s eyes as she spoke due to the effect they were currently having on her. ‘We went to the zoo a couple of days ago and now he’s completely changed. Dolls went back to the zoo and saw there was a seal in the wolf enclosure. We think that Jeremy and some others at school stepped on the seal and due to a spell, became possessed.’  
‘Okay,’ Nicole nodded with her words taking it all in. ‘What do you need me to do?’  
‘Well… you have um…’ she felt a bit awkward as she spoke. ‘Certain abilities you can use to maybe track them down.’ She glanced at Nicole and saw that the vampire knew she was referring to her exceptional hearing and sense of smell. ‘We have to get them all back to the zoo and the seal, then we can do a reversal spell.’  
‘Which, I’m guessing, you’ll be doing?’ Nicole asked intrigued.  
Waverly blinked, ‘I hadn’t actually thought about it… been too worried about Jeremy and um… distracted by um… other things.’ She allowed herself to smirk demurely at Nicole.  
‘Oh really?’ Nicole giggled. ‘What other things?’  
Once again, their eyes burned into each other. Nicole could tell what Waverly wanted to do, just as much as the vampire wanted her to do it, but still there was something holding her back. ‘My head…’ Waverly thought quickly putting her hand up to where a plaster covered her small cut. ‘Yeah… my head hurting.’ She stepped back away from Nicole, but the trembling she felt at Nicole’s presence did not lessen. ‘We should go…’ She cleared her throat and turned to the door.  
‘Yep… I guess we should,’ with a satisfied smile, Nicole followed Waverly out of the apartment and into the dark corridor. Once they reached the stairs, Nicole looked up to see that some daylight still remained due to the sunset. ‘I’ll have to catch you up,’ she gestured to the tunnels that lead away underground. On the stairs, Waverly looked around clearly disappointed to have to separate from Nicole. ‘I’ll meet you at the zoo okay?’ She let their eyes linger on each other for a moment, Waverly still encompassed by what she had seen, before she disappeared into the darkness of the tunnels.  
Waverly watched her go and continued to stare even when Nicole was out of sight. It took a few moments for her to realise what she was doing and upon this she shook herself violently, ‘get a grip of yourself Gibson,’ she growled at herself before continuing up the stairs into the dusk. ‘She’s not that pretty.’ She stopped walking as her mind focused again on what she couldn’t un-see. ‘Oh who am I kidding?… she is freaking gorgeous.’ A small smile appeared on her face as she thought how such a beautiful woman was somehow clearly and undoubtedly very interested in her.

As night fell over Purgatory, the gang made their way down the main street. Their faces menacing and mouths snarling at all in their path, all members of the public they came across dived out of their way. Perry at the front, the other followed proudly holding themselves high and glaring at all around them. It seemed at first that they were not going to find a victim to pick on as they continued to walk along the pavement, but then they spotted a familiar victim going out of one of the games stores across the road. Perry spotted him first and using a low growl he got the attention of the others. Words didn’t seem to be a part of them anymore as they all snarled in response following Perry across the road towards the isolated Pete.  
Upon hearing their growling, Pete spun round and horrified tried to run. However, the gang were too fast and Mercedes soon closed off his route to escape. Pete stumbled back and found himself surrounded. Members of the public could see what was happening but due to the group’s behaviour were reluctant to stop and help. Pete’s distressed eyes flitted between the malicious ones staring in on him as the five teenagers panted and growled at him.  
‘Please…’ he started. The pack exchanged looks and merely laughed before their focus returned to the helpless boy. Having assumed the leadership, Perry nodded at Jeremy. Jeremy grinned threateningly and stepped forward into the circle. Around him the rest of the group looked expectant. They were hungry. Pete looked at Jeremy alarmed as Jeremy closed in. ‘Come on man…’ he shrank back against the wall holding his bag in front of him hoping it would offer some protected. Jeremy however swiped it aside in an animalistic manner. He looked Pete up and down before lunging forward attempting to grab Pete by the throat. But, Pete was quicker. He grabbed Jeremy’s arm and bit Jeremy’s hand hard. It was all he could think to do. Crying out, almost whimpering like a dog, Jeremy fell backwards holding his hand as it bled. He looked at his group for help. They turned to Pete furious. Pete knew he was in real trouble now.  
‘Hey!’ the call distracted them all. They spun to see Nicole approaching. ‘You bullies always have to work in packs… it’s so pathetic,’ she spat at them. The group formed a barrier between Nicole and Pete as if protecting their prey. Nicole merely smirked. ‘Oh you’re going to have to do better than that.’   
Perry strode forward ready to fight, but Nicole laughed at him and thumped him to the floor before he’d even readied himself to attack. Angered by this, Steph growled and lunged at Nicole, but she too was brushed aside. It didn’t take long for Nicole to move through them and reach Pete who sat cowering on the floor. Creating a more effective barrier, Nicole shooed him away down the street watching to ensure his run got him to safety. Turning round to face the street again, Nicole saw that the gang had regrouped and were on the attack again.  
‘Oh come on… I can’t keep beating up teenagers,’ she groaned.  
‘Nicole!’ the cry was a relief as Nicole looked beyond them to where Wynonna came into view. ‘We have to get them to the zoo! To the seal!’  
With a wry smile, Nicole looked back at the wolves. ‘You ready to chase me?’ Continuing to advance, they all growled in response. ‘Good.’ Without another word, Nicole took off. Wynonna could see exactly what Nicole was doing and approved. Taking out her phone she rang Waverly to let her know that the possessed teenagers were on their way.

Putting the phone down, Waverly turned to Nedley as they stood in the out of bounds wolf enclosure at the zoo. Nedley was preparing the spell whilst Waverly was studying what it was she would have to say.  
‘Nicole is leading them here,’ Waverly told him.  
‘Good, you ready?’  
‘As I’ll ever be…’ Waverly nodded.  
‘Remember… if it gets out of control…’  
‘I’ll stop,’ Waverly assured him.  
Nedley went to speak but was interrupted by the sound of someone angrily trying to struggle as he was forced down the corridor towards where Nedley and Waverly stood. After a few moments, Dolls appeared dragging a man with him. From his camouflage and games keeper attire, Nedley and Waverly guessed instantly that he was the wolves’ keeper. Once inside the main cave, Dolls kicked the man forward so he fell onto the floor.  
‘I found him in his office… he’s been drawing power from the spell…’ Dolls explained picking the man back up again twisting his arm behind his back. ‘Turns out it has to be an adolescent that is possessed as adults can’t be… so he’s been getting his rocks off by subjecting children to the spell.’  
Nedley scowled at the man whose age was close to his own, ‘anyone who has to hurt children to feel good is a depraved human being.’ The man didn’t speak as he was too busy grimacing due to Dolls’ hold. ‘I’ll call the council, once this is over they have ways to dealing with people like him.’  
‘Before you go… just to let you know,’ Dolls said. ‘Lucado has been interested in this.’ Nedley looked back concerned. ‘As far as she’s concerned anyone who is possessed has a demon inside them and therefore can be killed. She called me in to help them track down and kill the pack.’  
Waverly stared at him mortified, ‘what did you say?’  
‘I said I was already on the case and…’ he swallowed. ‘… I said they got the location wrong.’ Nedley and Waverly realised why he had looked uncomfortable. He had knowingly and deliberately disobeyed his command and Lucado. ‘I told Lucado that I’d seen the pack in the forest on the other side of town. They won’t be coming here.’  
‘You did that for us?’ Waverly asked stunned.  
Dolls continued to hold onto the keeper as he looked troubled, he knew this would have devastating consequences on his Initiative career, ‘these are people…’ he said. ‘Not demons… I will not see them killed.’  
‘Because you have a demon in you,’ Nedley added.  
Dolls nodded, ‘exactly… but this demon will always be in me. We can save these children.’  
Waverly studied Dolls touched by his sacrifice. She felt sudden affection for the man. ‘Thank you.’  
‘WAVERLY!’ the scream ripped through their touching moment causing all four occupants of the cave to jump and look back out of the cave. It wasn’t long before Wynonna appeared. ‘They’re chasing Nicole… not far behind me.’  
‘What?’ Waverly exclaimed. ‘Five against one?’  
‘She’s a vampire Waves… trust me, she’s got this,’ Wynonna assured her. ‘And you know what… it’s about time you stopped denying yourself! Vampire or no vampire, she’s bloody awesome.’   
‘Not the time Wynonna, not the time!’ Waverly argued.  
‘No Waves…’ Wynonna insisted grabbing her friend. ‘Apart from a little bit of demon, there is nothing evil in that woman’s body. Do you know how rare it is to find someone as much as she clearly wants you?’ Waverly was lost for words. ‘Stop preventing yourself from having something that could be really amazing.’  
Waverly had only just digested the words when Nicole flew into sight at a terrific speed. ‘They still behind you?’  
‘Last time I checked…’ They all fell silent for a while then slowly but surely they could hear the growls of the approaching pack. ‘Yep… still there… and trust me, they’re pissed.’  
‘Waverly are you ready?’ Nedley asked. Everything was in place; all they needed were the pack. They didn’t have to wait long. Running in the gang appeared acting even less human than they had been. Teeth bared, mouths frothing they growled and turned examining every person in the cave. They first approached Nicole, but she had a growl of her own. She let it rip on Steph, who was not impressed and stepped back into the safety of her group. ‘They need to be on the seal!’ Nedley shouted.  
‘Prey… give them prey!’ Nicole suggested.  
‘Who?’ Wynonna asked.  
Then, they all had the same thought. They looked at Dolls who still had hold of the keeper. He looked up and met their eyes. ‘No... please no!’ The man whimpered. Dolls was happy to oblige. He dragged the struggling man forward and threw him onto the seal. It had the exact effect they wanted. Delighted, the group closed in on the man. ‘Please… kids… I did this for you!’ He begged covering his face with his arms. The group surrounded him beginning to claw at and scratch him. The man screamed in terror as they did so. However, Waverly had begun to chant the words in the book. This drew the real wolves in the enclosure out of hiding from behind their rocks in the cave. As soon as they appeared, the gang left the keeper slashed and bleeding on the floor and stared at the wolves once again hypnotised. The possessed teenagers and the wolves were locked for a moment before the human’s eyes glowed red and then the wolves. The possession had left them and returned to the real animals. Seeing this, Waverly stopped chanting and stepped back away from the gang. The real animals melted back into the darkness as the teenagers looked around them completely disorientated and bewildered.  
Jeremy looked up at the cave, down at his clothes, at his injured hand then at Waverly, ‘what the hell happened Waves?’ he asked. Seeing the kindness she loved so much had returned to his eyes Waverly ran forward and took him up in a hug. ‘Woah…’ he laughed. ‘I’m happy to see you too.’ He closed his arms tightly around his friend. Waverly closed her eyes and relaxed into the hug thankful him have him back.  
Behind him, Mercedes, Beth and Steph looked between themselves, ‘what the…?’ Mercedes began. She looked at who was in her company. ‘What am I doing here with you freaks?’  
‘You weren’t making it up,’ Nedley commented. ‘Lovely young lady.’ He added dryly.  
‘Aren’t you the librarian?’ Steph asked confused.  
‘Wow… I didn’t even think you people knew I existed,’ Nedley retorted surprised. ‘I think it’s time you children took yourself home and think carefully about taking synthetic highs.’  
‘Synthetic highs?’ Beth blurted. ‘We don’t…’  
‘Then how do you explain being here without any memory of why?’ Nedley continued.  
Beth went to speak but realised she had no answer. Remaining bemused, she, Mercedes and Steph began to trudge out of the cave leaving Perry behind. He looked at Waverly who had just pulled out of her hug with Jeremy and was smiling at Nicole, ‘this isn’t about being high is it?’  
‘It’s better you don’t know Perry,’ Waverly told him gently.  
‘But you do?’ Perry went on. ‘You know what happened here?’  
Waverly looked at Nicole awkwardly. Nicole’s eyes instantly reassured her and she turned back to Perry feeling more settled in her thoughts. ‘Just go home,’ she said. ‘Please.’ It was clear he didn’t want to, but after holding her gaze for a moment he turned away reluctantly and followed the others out of the cave.   
‘We were wolves weren’t we?’ Jeremy asked.  
Wynonna looked surprised, ‘how did you work that out?’  
‘The seal, the spell, the wolves and I have some fuzzy memories in my head… plus I’m a genius.’ The others couldn’t deny this and were a little relieved he figured it out.  
‘How did that happen?’ Waverly asked gesturing to his hand.  
‘I’m not sure… that bit is really hazy…’ he’d forgotten about it. Now he’d been reminded it suddenly hurt again. ‘I bet I deserved it though.’ He cradled it in his other hand as it stung excruciatingly. ‘I hope I deserved it.’  
Chuckling, Wynonna wrapped an arm around Jeremy as they made their way out of the cave. Nedley joined Dolls who had hold of the keeper once again. The man was still alive his skin just covered in scratches and nasty gashes. Dolls agreed to take him back to the library before the council would send a car to pick him up so he could be dealt with accordingly. Nedley thanked him once again for his sacrifice which assured that all five of the teenagers had survived the ordeal and been able to remain alive. They too made their way out of the cave leaving Nicole and Waverly alone.  
'Another successful spell,’ Nicole smiled at her. ‘You’re really getting good at this.’  
‘And I didn’t get a lecture from Nedley,’ Waverly beamed. ‘I bet one is coming though…’  
There was a pause as they gazed at each other. Nicole decided she was going to make the move. ‘Listen Waves…’ she approached Waverly so she was standing right in front of her. ‘I know I said I’d wait but…’  
To her surprise, Waverly stepped forward and placed a finger on Nicole’s lips to silence her, ‘I know…’ she took her finger away but took her hand to cup Nicole’s face. ‘It’s all I think about… you… are all I think about…’  
Nicole brought her hand to Waverly’s arm near where Waverly touched her face and squeezed it tightly, ‘I know it wouldn’t be a normal relationship… but I want you so much.’  
Waverly breathed out a smile, ‘I want you too…’ At this Nicole moved in but Waverly once again placed her fingers softly in the way. ‘But there’s something I need to do first.’ Nicole’s eyes formed the question. ‘Because of how I feel, because of how much I feel… I want to do this right.’ She stroked Nicole’s cheek. The fact that it was cold no longer bothered her. ‘I want to do this right with you.’ She didn’t want to, but she took her hand away from Nicole’s face as she backed away. However, as Nicole watched her go there was a different look in Waverly’s eyes. A look that something could finally be about to happen. She loved the sound of Waverly wanting to do it right, it meant that she really was serious about how she felt.

The next morning, Waverly found Perry sitting alone on one of the student sofas in the lounge area. He looked solemn like he had a lot on his mind. Before last night, Waverly might have turned away unable to do what she needed to, but today she was determined. She knew more than ever that she wanted Nicole and was going to make sure she did it right. Tentatively, she sat down in front of him.  
‘Perry?’  
He looked up his face remaining glum, ‘oh hey Waves.’  
‘Are you okay?’  
‘I’m remembering some things… you know from… like um… I’m remembering what I said to you,’ he said sadly. ‘I’m sorry.’  
‘It’s okay, you were…’ she stopped herself. ‘You weren’t yourself.’  
‘I know this place is weird… and that was weird,’ he went on.  
Waverly placed a hand on his arm, but then took it away quickly, ‘everyone is okay Perry… just try and put it behind you.’ He nodded though it was unconvincing. Waverly took a deep breath. ‘I um… I do need to talk to you about something…’ She shifted in her seat. ‘It won’t be easy to…’  
‘You want to break up,’ he said for her. She looked at him surprised. He smiled dejectedly. ‘I’ve been sensing it. And… I saw how you looked at that girl in the cave last night.’ Now Waverly looked very uncomfortable. ‘I’ve never seen her before…’  
‘She’s… not in school,’ Waverly panicked.  
‘I figured, she seems older… but she is hot…’ He went on. ‘I’m surprised it’s a girl, but I’m not going to argue with your choice.’  
‘Have you um… told…’ Waverly started nervously.  
‘No,’ he assured her. ‘No, I figured this is quite new to you and… well, it’s none of my business anymore.’ Despite his kind words, it was obvious he was heartbroken. ‘It actually makes me feel a bit better… in a strange way.’ He frowned at his own statement. ‘I just hope you’re happy?’  
‘How about confused, surprised and terrified?’ she replied.  
‘Must be love,’ he stated with a soft laugh. He reached over and stroked her cheek, something he knew he would never be able to do again. With a despondent sigh he got himself to his feet. ‘It’s how I felt when I met you.’ Their eyes met for the last time. Waverly hated the pain she was causing him. He was a good person. He had been good to her.  
Finally, Perry forced himself to tear himself away and made his way out of the lounge area and out of sight. Her heart thumping in her chest, Waverly felt all of the emotions she described flooding into her body. She didn’t know if she was in love, but now there was nothing holding her back so she could finally find out.


	11. New Moon Rising Part 1

Making her way around the back of the warehouses, Wynonna kept her guard up until she was reunited with Dolls, who had made his way around the other way. As they approached each other they lowered their weapons and relaxed.  
‘Seems eerily quiet tonight,’ Wynonna commented as they stood opposite each other.  
‘Are you complaining?’ Dolls laughed.  
‘No… just makes my senses tingle, like something is up…’ she tucked her stake into her jacket pocket before a little shyly meeting his eyes. ‘I’ve been meaning to thank you again for what you did… for Jeremy.’  
Enjoying the meeting of their eyes, Dolls shrugged his shoulders a little coyly, ‘it was nothing… honestly, he’s a good kid. He wouldn’t have deserved the fate the Initiative would have given him.’  
‘The others would have though, you could have shot them,’ Wynonna commented as Dolls laughed. ‘Have you been in trouble at all?’ Wynonna asked as they began to walk on to another part of the warehouse yard.  
‘No,’ Dolls assured her. ‘Lucado assumed that the intel I gave her was correct but the teenagers had moved on and I didn’t know where they had gone.’  
‘Does she know you were at the enclosure?’ Wynonna pressed a little worried for him.   
Dolls smiled at her concern, ‘not at all. I told her I was investigating a possible sighting near Shorty’s. Then the machines at the Initiative told her that the spell had been reversed and she assumed that you lot had something to do with it.’ He chuckled at the memory. ‘She was pretty pissed… she really wanted that one for some reason.’  
‘Aren’t we all supposed to be working together?’ Wynonna joked.  
‘With Lucado…’ he sighed. ‘I don’t think she knows the word together… it’s just her and what she wants… I think she forgets that she works for the government sometimes and has people that tell her what to do.’  
Wynonna stopped walking so she could look at him again, ‘I just hope you don’t get found out… because you did the right thing.’ As they looked at each other a moment grew between them, one which had been halted the day in the graveyard where Dolls had exposed the darkest side of himself. Wynonna no longer thought about that day, she had seen how Dolls could now control himself and remembered that he was under the influence of a spell.  
‘I would always try and do the right thing for you,’ Dolls found himself saying, almost like it was out of his control. However, Wynonna didn’t tease him; she simply continued to gaze up at his kind face. Dolls took this to mean he could follow through with the action that he had craved for so long. Stepping forward he went to put his hand on her cheek, but a little taken back Wynonna moved back unsure. ‘I’m sorry… I um… I have to go…’ Dolls face creased into a frown of confusion. ‘It’s Doc… he’s expecting me.’ Without another word, she turned and walked away into the darkness. As she did so she shook herself infuriated. ‘What is wrong with you Earp?’

A little while later, still furious at herself, Wynonna entered the hospital and made her way to Doc’s ward. She found him sitting up in bed successfully watching the TV but didn’t seem at all impressed with what was in the screen. As Wynonna reached his side she saw it was a Western.  
‘This is a criminal!’ Doc cried. ‘It’s all wrong… all wrong!’ Some of the other patients in the ward looked round a little bemused. ‘No one in these films can shoot properly.’  
‘And you’re good are you?’ Wynonna chuckled.  
‘One of the best,’ Doc stated confidently. ‘Can take any man of any skill down… even with my eyes closed.’  
‘Will have to see that one day,’ she sat down on his bed facing away from the TV so she could give him her full attention. ‘It’s good to see you getting passionate about something… after how you were the other day.’  
Doc pulled his eyes away from the screen to look at her, ‘I’m feeling better,’ he said. ‘Except I think the food is causing my innards some difficulty… been feeling a bit off…’  
‘That’s standard with hospital food,’ Wynonna told him. ‘Have you had your latest test results yet?’  
‘No… damn doctor keeps sticking needles in me but giving me no answers,’ Doc spat adjusting his position to show his annoyance. ‘I don’t think the idiot knows what he’s talking about!’  
‘Is it the doctor… or being stuck in here?’ Wynonna asked knowingly about his mood.  
Doc avoided eye contact, ‘Maybe a bit of both… but the man is an idiot.’  
‘Well for the moment…’ she kicked off her shoes and sat beside him on the bed. Doc looked a little put out not expecting her to make that move at all. Wynonna sensed that he needed the company and for someone to listen to his ranting about the film. ‘… how about you tell me everything they’re doing wrong in this film… since you know, you kinda lived it.’  
‘You got all night?’ Doc checked trying not to look too pleased.  
‘If I go home, I have to do homework…’  
Doc beamed under his moustache, ‘I’ll start from the beginning then…’

As Waverly got ready for bed, she sensed the all familiar presence behind her. She was thankful that she was already in her night clothes as she had left the curtains across her window open. As her window only looked out across rolling fields it was something she often forgot to do. She felt her heart pounding in her chest as she turned to see Nicole was sitting on the roof just outside the window. The two smiled at each other as Waverly made her way across the room still brushing her long hair. As Waverly did so, Nicole used the moment to take in every part of Waverly’s body.   
‘Hey you,’ Nicole said softly.  
‘Hey,’ Waverly replied keeping her hands supporting and brushing her hair. However, her action had slowed as she was now too distracted by the dark eyes gazing in at her from the window. Almost spellbound, she felt compelled to stare back but she hardly fought it.   
With a playfully devious look, Nicole reached forward and hooked her finger into Waverly’s sweat pants and pulled her forward. Waverly pouted, trying to look annoyed but it was not working. ‘I was going to ask you to come out… but I’m guessing I’m a little late…  
‘And why were you going to ask me out?’ Waverly asked flirtatiously.  
‘Well…’ She took her finger out from its current position and found a little piece of exposed skin on Waverly’s hip. Checking that Waverly was comfortable, she began to trace lines with the tip of her finger. ‘I was thinking… now you are single… we could have a date.’  
‘A date?’ Waverly teased. The feeling of Nicole’s finger on her skin was causing her heart beat to quicken.  
‘Well… isn’t that what you teenagers like to do?’  
Placing her hairbrush to one side, Waverly looked down at Nicole’s fingers on her skin and brought her hand down to meet it. She took the vampire’s fingers away from her hip but held Nicole’s hand in her own gently. ‘Don’t you?’ she asked.  
‘We didn’t really date in my day,’ Nicole replied. ‘But it looks fun. And I want to try it… with you.’  
To this, Waverly smiled as she looked at Nicole’s hand in her own. The vampire wore a single gold and green ring on her middle finger. Waverly turned it slowly around Nicole’s finger intrigued by it. ‘I’d like that,’ Waverly replied. She took her eyes off the ring and looked back into Nicole’s eyes. ‘I’d like to go on a date with you.’  
‘Okay…’ Nicole beamed. ‘Would you like to do anything in particular? Or would you like me to surprise you?’  
It was clearly from the slight widening of Waverly’s eyes that she liked the sound of that, ‘surprise me.’  
‘Tomorrow night?’  
‘Oh tomorrow’s not good…’ Waverly giggled. ‘I have a date with the slayer.’ Nicole laughed, but Waverly saw the vampire was a little disappointed. She stepped in a little closer to Nicole their fingers still entwining on their joined hands. ‘I’ll cancel.’  
‘You better,’ Nicole smirked.  
Waverly laughed for a moment, then her face turned serious as she stared out of her window at the beautiful woman framed within it. Absent nerves, Waverly brought her hand up to Nicole’s face. She stroked her fingers down the side of the vampire’s face until they came to rest cupping Nicole’s face. ‘I’m glad we’re doing this…’ Nicole was too struck to answer. Instead her eyes just pierced into Waverly’s. Unable to resist any longer, Waverly leant down and placed a soft and simple kiss on Nicole’s lips. She didn’t let it linger too long, but just enough to feel the touch she had thought about and yearned for. Pulling away, she was amused by Nicole’s look of delighted surprise. ‘Until tomorrow night then.’ She picked up her hairbrush and moved away from the window returning to her task of getting ready for bed. Nicole watched the human shaking her head amused by her candour. Facing her mirror, Waverly wanted to watch Nicole slip away in its reflection but when she looked into it there was no one there. It was another detail about Nicole’s existence that she had forgotten. Instead, she looked over her shoulder to share one last smile with the vampire before she disappeared from view and into the night.

His hands shoved in his pockets, Jeremy walked up towards the school café and then turned around and walked away again. After only a few steps, Jeremy stopped himself. Taking his hands out of his pockets he silently tried to reason with himself. Taking a deep breath, he turned and determinedly walked back towards the café and into it. Now that he had done that, there was no going back. Pete saw him instantly.  
Jeremy raised one hand nervously, ‘hi…’  
Looking a little awkward, Pete looked up from his coffee, ‘hi.’  
‘Can I?’ Jeremy asked gesturing to the empty chair opposite Pete.  
‘Sure,’ Pete shrugged closing the book his was reading.  
Jeremy smiled relieved at the welcome. Pulling his bag over his head he placed it carefully on the floor before sitting down and adjusting himself on the chair. It took a few moments before Jeremy could look up at the other teenager. ‘I’ve been meaning to come and talk to you…’ He clasped his hands together in his lap, trying to subdue some of his nerves. ‘I’m sorry… I’m so sorry for the way I behaved. Something was wrong, I can’t explain what…’ he laughed ironically. ‘… which probably doesn’t help. But I just wanted you to know… that…’ he paused trying to gather himself. ‘I’m sorry.’  
After a few painful moments for Jeremy, Pete smiled, ‘do you know what makes you different?’ Jeremy shook his head with a shrug of his shoulders. ‘None of the others have apologised.’ Jeremy let out a little sigh of relief at the sound of Pete’s soft tone. ‘I knew something was up. That wasn’t you.’  
‘No it really wasn’t…’ he stopped and looked up. ‘How do you know it wasn’t me?’  
Pete looked a little flustered, ‘well… um… I…’ he closed his eyes and accepted his had to explain. ‘I’ve been watching you. Not in a weird way! Just in a… I’ve noticed you around.’  
Jeremy felt his heart beating a little harder, ‘you have?’  
‘You’re interesting,’ Pete went on. ‘A lot more interesting than most of the people in this place.’ He looked around him at the teenagers that milled around the school. ‘You’re not like them… and I like that.’  
‘It’s not always been a good thing,’ Jeremy said sadly.  
‘But it’s the best part of you,’ Pete went on. Their eyes met. ‘You should never change it.’   
Jeremy found himself having to pull away from Pete’s gaze suddenly overcome with shyness. As he did so he spotted the time, ‘oh man, I have class,’ he stood up quickly but nearly fell over in his haste. He hadn’t realised that his legs had turned to jelly during his conversation with Pete. He took a moment to steady himself and smiled at Pete. ‘See you around?’  
‘I hope so.’

‘You’re going out on a date?’ Wynonna tried not to squeal as they sat opposite each other on their own table in the library. Wynonna then thought for a moment. ‘Do vampires know how to date?’  
‘I have no idea,’ Waverly admitted. ‘But she says she’s going to surprise me tonight.’  
‘Oh my god, this is so exciting!’ Wynonna cried. She then looked around to check that she wasn’t disturbing Nedley somewhere. She could already hear his British tutting at her raised voice amongst his books. She lowered her voice a little before she spoke again, ‘do you have any idea where she might be taking you?’  
‘None… none at all.’ Waverly then had a horrible thought. ‘How the hell do I choose what to wear?’  
Wynonna looked stumped, ‘that’s a point… it could be anything…’  
‘Jeans?’ Waverly asked.  
‘What if it’s active?’ Wynonna thought.  
‘Skirt?’  
‘Really not good if it’s active…’  
‘Wynonna…’ Nedley began emerging from his office, unaware of the very important conversation he was interrupting.  
‘Not now Neddles,’ Wynonna said not taking her eyes off Waverly as the girls panicked.  
‘Leather?’  
‘You have leather!?’  
‘Leggings?’ Waverly suggested thinking through her wardrobe.  
‘Are they smart?’ Wynonna asked. Nedley looked between them as they spoke bewildered.  
‘I’ve got black and blue… I don’t know if they’re smart though…’ To this Wynonna looked unsure.  
Slightly irritated, Nedley closed the book he was holding, ‘excuse me ladies but I actually have a very important matter to discuss with the slayer…’  
Wynonna raised her hand to stop him talking but didn’t take her eyes off Waverly as her mind searched for answers, ‘trust me Nedley, nothing is more important than this right now…’  
‘What clothes?’ he snapped.  
‘Not just any clothes Nedley…’ Wynonna told him. ‘Not just any clothes.’  
‘Well… when you’re ready to get to training and learning ways to save the world… you let me know…’ he marched back to his office but then turned back. ‘You know if the world ends because you weren’t prepared enough to save it, there won’t be any clothes to discuss?’  
‘Well that would solve my problem…’ Waverly concluded.

Her coat wrapped around her, Waverly waited nervously on her front porch. When Gus had asked her where she was going all dressed up, Waverly had found herself telling a small lie that it was just drinks with a friend. She hated lying to Gus, but she hadn’t even brought herself to tell her guardian that she had broken up with Perry. Finally, Nicole’s black car rolled into view. Despite the chill in the night, Nicole had the top down so Waverly could admire her completely as she brought the car to a stop in front of the house. At the sight of Nicole’s smile, Waverly stood up immediately and made her way down the steps to meet the car.  
As Waverly went to let herself into the car, Nicole hurriedly got out and rushed round, ‘wait…’ she stood between Waverly and the car their bodies brushing together. Waverly looked into Nicole’s eyes confused for a moment, then saw that Nicole simply wanted to open the car door for her and respectfully help her in. ‘You said you wanted to do this right,’ Nicole said softly as Waverly moved past to get in.  
Waverly simply smiled back as Nicole closed the door and moved back around the front of the car. This gave Waverly the time to admire Nicole in her tight fitting black trousers and top with her short leather jacket. She noticed that Nicole had styled her hair a little differently wearing it wavy and she was definitely wearing more make up than she usually did. It then occurred to Waverly that Nicole didn’t have a reflection, so how she looked so flawless without the use of a mirror would have to be a question she brought up later. For now, as the vampire took her seat beside her, she would just enjoy the view.  
‘So… where are you taking me?’ Waverly asked.  
Nicole took a moment to take Waverly in, dressed with her hair half tied up leaving the rest to fall around her shoulders and underneath the coat she could see an elegantly figure-hugging blue dress. Waverly had decided to go for what she wanted to wear rather than worrying about what might be coming on the evening ahead. ‘Just wait and see,’ she grinned. Waverly smirked trying to look unamused but she couldn’t be under the alluring stare of the vampire. Chuckling to herself at Waverly’s inability to stay annoyed, Nicole put the car in gear pulled out of the drive.  
It wasn’t long before Nicole brought the car to a halt again and it was not where Waverly expected at all. Perplexed she looked up at the old small church in front of her wondering if Nicole had got lost. Once she had turned off the ignition, Nicole got out and walked round so she could open the door for Waverly to get out. She offered her hand which Waverly took gladly as she continued to look between Nicole and the church. Nicole however looked very certain that they were in the right place.  
‘Can you go in churches?’ Waverly asked as Nicole closed the car door behind her.  
‘As long as I don’t touch anything cross shaped or any holy water, it’s just another building,’ Nicole replied. She held out her hand for Waverly to take. ‘Anyway, it’s not the church we’re here to see…’ Waverly looked intrigued as she took Nicole’s hand and their fingers entwined.  
The gravel crunched underneath their feet as they walked up to the church door. Old and heavy, Nicole had to give it a strong push to open it and with a little creak it revealed the beauty of the building inside. Lit with candles its wooden beams loomed above them and the stained glass windows let a little of the full moon’s light seep in. Waverly expected that they would walk forward into the church but using the connection of their hands Nicole pulled her towards a staircase winding upwards to the right of the door. Nicole led the way slowly not wanting to lose the grip she had around Waverly’s fingers.  
At the top of the stairs Waverly could see they were up on a balcony that looked down over the church and when Nicole took her to the edge she saw why the vampire had taken her up there. When she looked down she could see a group standing in a circle around a white Wiccan symbol created with rose petals on the floor. In the middle of the Wicca star lay a single red rose. The group of all women stood hand in hand all focused on the rose. They seemed to muttering under their breath as their eyes were all fixed on one spot. Slowly, with a slight shake, the rose began to rise. It floated gracefully until it was hovering in the middle of the ten women. Brief smiles of delight appeared on their faces but disappeared quickly as they tried to keep control.  
Stunned, Waverly turned to Nicole beside her, ‘they’re…?’  
‘Witches… yes…’ Nicole nodded. ‘They meet here every week to practise their craft… I thought you might like to see.’  
Touched by Nicole’s thoughtfulness, Waverly took her hand once again but turned to continue watching what was happening below. Nicole sighed a little at the feel of Waverly’s fingers gripping her own and tried to concentrate on watching also. It brought it little warmth into her lifeless heart to see that Waverly had reacted exactly how she hoped.  
Below, the group continued to concentrate on the rose until slowly the petals began to peel off one by one and fall delicately onto the floor in the middle of the symbol. It was clear the group were taking it in turns to remove each petal. Some were more accomplished than others but the rose remained in their control and still hovering at head height between them.  
‘It’s beautiful,’ Waverly breathed out.  
Nicole’s eyes were no longer on the witches, ‘I know…’ Waverly’s neck slightly exposed, her interest in it was not that of a vampire but of a lover wanting to kiss her partner’s neck. She held back not wanting to disrupt Waverly’s enjoyment of the display beneath them.  
‘Do you think I could join them?’ Waverly wondered.  
The petals now all removed on the floor, the women now worked to replace them back in their place. One by one the rose petals returned to the stem of the rose and rooted themselves in as if they had never been parted from it. Soon all the petals had been replaced and to Waverly’s surprise the rose began to float away from the group up to where she and Nicole stood. Each of the women were playing their part in its path and they worked together to stop it so it floated right in front of Waverly. Waverly looked back at Nicole who simply smiled and nodded. Carefully, Waverly plucked the rose out of the air much to the happiness of the faces below.  
‘I definitely think they want you to,’ Nicole whispered.  
Waverly studied the rose then turned to look at Nicole suspiciously, ‘you set this up didn’t you?’  
Nicole looked down knowing she had been found out, ‘I might have done…’  
The rose in Waverly’s hand was the only thing between her body and the vampire’s, ‘the group… or the rose?’  
‘The rose…’ Nicole told her. ‘They are a real group and they do meet here everything week. I just might have asked for a favour.’  
Waverly brought the rose up to smell it, then met Nicole’s eyes again, ‘do they want me to join?’  
‘When I spoke to them yesterday and described you, they’ve been desperate to meet you ever since,’ Nicole smiled. ‘Though my description was probably a little bias.’ Waverly laughed a little bashfully and took her eyes off Nicole, but with a gentle hand cupping the human’s face, Nicole brought it back. ‘I guess I can’t help it.’  
‘So who’s my date with tonight then?’ Waverly asked their faces a breath apart. ‘You or them?’  
‘Me… definitely me…’ Nicole answered focused completely on Waverly’s lips.  
‘Good,’ Waverly whispered back. The rose still in her hand she threw her arms around Nicole’s neck bringing their lips together in a tender kiss. Keeping the hand holding the rose against Nicole’s back she brought the other to the vampire’s neck to pull her down and closer. Nicole complied as she slipped her arms around Waverly’s waist. Closing her eyes, Waverly relaxed completely into the meeting of their lips. There were no doubts, no worries, no concerns, just the delicious feeling of the vampire’s soft lips against her own. Completely drawn into it, the rose slipped from Waverly’s fingers and fell silently to the floor so both hands could cup Nicole’s face wanting to pull her even closer.

As the car raced gracefully through the night air, Waverly couldn’t take her eyes off Nicole. She could have stayed on that balcony all night in Nicole’s arms just kissing her. Now she sat with the rose on her lap and trying to keep the grin from her face. Aware of the attention on her, Nicole took her hand from the gear stick and reached across to take Waverly’s hand. Waverly was just about to take it so their fingers could entwine once again when they heard an ear piercing scream coming from through the trees to the left hand side of the car. The brakes screeched as Nicole brought the car to an instant halt.  
‘You heard that right?’ Waverly asked nervously. Nicole however was silent, she was listening. After a few seconds another scream filled the air.  
‘That’s human,’ Nicole said worried.   
Fumbling a little, she put the car into reverse. She had seen a dirt track a little way back. She spun the car round masterfully before tearing down the track which wound its way through the trees. Waverly held on as it bounced over the uneven terrain. It wasn’t long before they reached a clearing in the forest where Waverly almost found herself screaming from what they saw.  
In the mouth of a tent, two teenagers sat frozen in horror as a huge hair beast moved in on them. They were holding it back by throwing anything they could from their campsite equipment but they were soon about to run out. Without hesitation, Nicole leapt from her car and round over to take the creature on.  
With a skilful high kick she came at it from behind slamming her foot into the side of its head. The creature fell over and rolled across the floor. However, it didn’t stay there long. Jumping up, it whirled round and snarled at Nicole. Its jagged teeth bared and its dark eyes piercing, it studied the vampire ready for its next attack. Behind Nicole, the two teenagers remained cowering in their cave, whilst Waverly stood by the car watching fearfully. As the beast growled at Nicole, the vampire showed her demon side and growled back. As the creature lunged forward, Nicole tried to spin away but caught her foot on a stone in the ground causing her to plummet to the floor. Seizing its chance, the beast jumped on top of her its jaws bearing down. Struggling against its strength, Nicole desperately tried to keep its fangs away from her face. It was a battle she was slowly losing until a thick branch made hard contact with its head. The creature whimpered as it fell off Nicole and onto the floor allowed the vampire to get up. She stood in front of Waverly, who clutched the branch in front of her, to protect her as the creature tried to regain itself. However, it was unable to do so. Instead of coming forward for another attack, it growled furiously before turning and disappearing into the forest.  
Changing her face back to its human form, Nicole watched it go to make sure it had gone before turning round to Waverly. Gripping tightly onto the branch, Waverly was shaking. Carefully, Nicole prised the branch out of her fingers and dropped it onto the floor. ‘You okay?’ Waverly didn’t speak; she just threw herself into Nicole’s arms holding her tightly. ‘Hey…’ Nicole laughed lightly replying with her arms in the embrace. ‘I’m okay…’ She kissed the top of Waverly’s head. ‘I’m okay.’  
Waverly nodded into Nicole’s chest before looking up. Nicole was touched to see a few tears in the human’s eyes. ‘We should tell Nedley… I mean…’ keeping her arms wrapped around Nicole’s waist she looked in the direction in which the creature had run when it disappeared into the forest. ‘… what even was that thing?’  
‘I don’t know… but I’m getting you home safely…’ Nicole said leading Waverly back towards the car.  
Waverly stopped their walk to look up into Nicole’s eyes, ‘maybe one day we can have a normal date?’  
‘Waves… can you ever see that happening?’ Nicole chuckled.  
‘No… but can we keep trying?’ Waverly asked.  
Adoring the sound of that, Nicole leaned down and brought their lips together before agreeing, ‘absolutely.’

As the birds announced the arrival of the morning, the sun creeped it’s away across the floor of the forest until it came upon something which it would not normally find asleep beneath the trees’ canopy. Sprawled out behind a solitary rock in the middle of the trees, was the naked body of a young teenager. At the feel of the slight warm from the suns’ rays the body stirred as the boy slowly awoke. Opening his eyes, he looked up at the leaves above him. It took a moment for him to realise that he had no woken up where he expected to, wrapped up in the sheets of his bed. As his eyes focused, he realised exactly where he was and sat bolt upright stunned. Feeling the cool breeze hitting areas of his body that would not normal be exposed he looked down to see that he was indeed wearing nothing at all. Taking a few deep breaths he looked around him, just checking he was exactly where he thought he was.  
‘Huh…’ Jeremy said to himself.

‘A wolf, bear, monster thing?’ Wynonna asked checking she had heard Waverly right.  
‘Yep, in the middle of the forest, about to have two teenagers for dinner,’ Waverly said as they sat in the library. ‘Nicole was so brave…’ she said with a dreamy look.  
Amused, Wynonna studied her friend, ‘I bet she was… Though I’m sure not what either of you had in mind for last night…’  
‘Oh no…’ Waverly grinned. ‘There were plenty of good bits…’  
Wynonna went to open her mouth to learn more but was halted as Nedley entered the library, ‘I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation, which is probably about something unimportant like clothes or your love lives, but I think we need to perhaps investigate this…’ he slapped a newspaper down on the table between the two girls.   
Sensing his urgency, Wynonna and Waverly both turned to read the newspaper. The headline, ‘YOUNG BOY MAULED BY BEAST’ screamed out at them. Waverly looked at Wynonna her eyes wide. ‘By beast?’  
Nedley looked at her questioningly, ‘do you know about this?’  
‘Nicole and I had to rescue two teenagers from a creature last night…’ she said. ‘Looked something between a wolf and a bear and was huge. Could it have done this?’  
‘Well at the moment, anything is possible…’ Nedley nodded. He grabbed a pen and paper and sat down with the girls at the table. ‘Can you describe it?’  
‘A bear crossed with a wolf… and big…’ Waverly said seriously. Nedley looked up unamused at the lack of new detail. ‘I’m sorry, I was scared and it was attacking Nicole… who was so brave….’  
Wynonna couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Nedley too look a little sick, ‘well if you can take your mind off our friendly vampire and think of anything useful… let me know.’  
‘Hey guys!’ Jeremy’s entrance came at a good time as Waverly was not enjoying the looks she was getting off of Nedley and Wynonna. ‘How things?’ His voice was cheery as he walked over to meet them. ‘How are we all doing to…’ he stopped talking the moment his eyes fell on the newspaper. He reached between Waverly and Wynonna to pick it up. He held it in both hands as he read the headline and some of the article. He tried to hide the fact that he was shaking. ‘Do we know who the boy was?’ he asked trying to stay calm.  
‘No… it doesn’t say,’ Nedley replied.  
Jeremy subtly took a deep breath and placed the newspaper coolly back on the table, ‘so… are we investigating?’  
‘That’s the plan,’ Wynonna answered. ‘But so far we’ve got as far as it might be a big, wolf, bear thing…’ she shot Waverly a playful look. ‘Waverly and Nicole had a bit of an encounter in the forest last night.’  
This comment hit Jeremy hard, but he hid it. ‘In the woods?’  
‘Yeah, it attacked two teenagers but Nicole saw it off. She didn’t kill it as it ran away into the forest.’  
‘So it’s still at large?’ Jeremy went on.  
‘I’ll be patrolling tonight,’ Wynonna stated standing up. ‘But first I’ll go and see if the police can tell me anymore about the boy and how he died.’ She looked at her watcher who nodded in approval. He watched her leave the library but Waverly was studying Jeremy who looked very uncomfortable.  
‘Are you okay?’ she asked.  
Jeremy looked at her a little awkwardly, ‘yeah I’m fine… just not nice to read that someone had to die… that way…’ unable to stay any longer, without another word Jeremy turned and made his way quickly out of the library.

‘So they wouldn’t tell you anything?’ Nedley asked as they made their way through the woods.  
Clutching a large torch closely, Waverly turned back to the pair, ‘hardly surprising… a random girl walking in and wanting to know about a boy’s murder.’  
‘It was worth a try Waves,’ Wynonna shrugged.  
‘I know… I guess I just wished you’d found out so we didn’t have to be out here… in the woods… in the dark… when there’s a beast with three inch fangs out there somewhere.’  
‘Well I’m here,’ Wynonna assured her. ‘Though I’m probably right if I say that I’m the wrong shaped girl for the one you’d prefer to be fighting your battles with…’ she jabbed Waverly in the ribs playfully. As soon as she did this, just as one had the night before, a scream filled the night air. Waverly and Wynonna instantly stopped laughing and stared into the dark towards where the scream had come from.  
‘That does not sound good…’ Nedley said gulping.  
‘No…’ Wynonna agreed beginning to run. ‘No it does not.’ She tore through the woods with Waverly and Nedley trying to keep up. However, due to her supernatural speed she was able to leave them behind quickly as she made her way towards where another scream echoed amongst the trees. Soon, she came to clearing at the edge of the forest to where a car was parked overlooking a view down across town. There the slayer’s eyes came upon the beast standing on top of the car clawing at the car’s roof. Its razor sharp claws were shredding through the metal like it was paper. Wynonna moved to pounce, but someone got there first. From the other side, Nicole leapt onto the roof and kicked the creature off the car sending it sprawling across the floor. She then landed back on the floor and told the young couple within the car to drive off quickly.   
Disorientated, the creature got to its feet and saw Wynonna first. However, she was ready. As it came hurtling towards her she spun and landed a clean blow straight across its face knocking it off its feet once again. The car gone from sight, Nicole turned her attention to helping Wynonna. Standing opposite each other with the beast in the middle they stood on guard ready for its next attack. It went for Nicole, but the vampire angled a punch across its face. It whimpered and landed on the floor. Wynonna went in but the creature was quick and swung its arm back sending her reeling. It lunged for the slayer, but Nicole, now wearing her game face, jumped onto its back wrapping her arms around its neck. It roared as Nicole’s arms closed around its throat.  
From the trees, Waverly and Nedley had finally caught up. Their eyes fell upon the struggle. They watched as Nicole spun sending the creature flying away from herself and Wynonna. Its head rammed into a tree trunk but it was only shaken for a moment. It stood still, studying the slayer and vampire in front of it. It bared its teeth and snarled angrily spit dripping from its mouth. Nicole and Wynonna looked at each other for a moment, but it was a moment too long. It launched itself in the air its claws ripping into Nicole’s cheek sending her flying across the floor. Angered by this, Wynonna flipped out of the way and was able to wrap her arms around the creature’s neck just as Nicole had just done.  
‘Nicole!’ Waverly cried at the sight of Nicole lying on the floor. She went to run forward but Nedley held her back. She tried to fight against him but he held on tightly to her whilst studying the beast that Wynonna grappled with. As he did so, he caught a glimpse of the creature’s eyes.  
‘Oh god…’ he gasped. He let go of Waverly and rushed forward. ‘Wynonna, don’t kill it!’  
Bewildered, Wynonna stared at him whilst keeping her grip, ‘what the hell?’ she cried. ‘Why not!?’  
‘It’s a werewolf!’ Nedley told her. Wynonna still looked confused. ‘It’s a person… a werewolf is a person!’ Understanding, Wynonna tightened her grip around the werewolf’s neck until it dropped to the floor. Nedley gawped mortified thinking his slayer had disobeyed him and killed it, then he saw the creature’s chest rise and fall and realised that it was merely unconscious. Quickly, Nedley pulled out some rope from the bag he was carrying and tossed it to Wynonna. Immediately, she began to bind it around the beast’s hands and ankles as tightly as she could.  
Free to do so, Waverly rushed forward to Nicole’s side where the vampire was clambering uneasily to her feet. Three nasty gashes had been slashed into her cheek. She grimaced at the pain as she changed her face back hiding her demon. ‘You okay?’ Waverly asked reaching her side.  
A little unconvincingly, Nicole nodded, ‘I’ll be fine…’ but she welcomed Waverly’s arms around her. ‘Damn thing knows how to fight.’  
They all looked at the creature asleep and bound on the floor, ‘we’ll take it back to the library and put it in the weapons cage,’ Nedley told them. ‘It can’t escape from there… and in the morning, we’ll find out who this is…’

Hiding in the shadows of Nedley’s office as the sun began to rise around them, Nicole gazed into Waverly’s eyes as the human carefully patched her up. Waverly knew she was doing a terrible job, but she was having an awful lot of trouble concentrating. She held the damp cloth in her hand and she was making an attempt to wash the cuts on the vampire’s cheek, but the feel of Nicole’s hand on her hip was causing her attention to waver easily.  
Sitting on Nedley’s desk, Nicole pulled Waverly closer in between her legs, ‘I don’t think we should count this as a second date,’ Nicole joked.   
‘Oh I think we should,’ Waverly disagreed.  
‘Oh, and why’s that?’  
‘Because then we have to keep trying to get a normal one,’ Waverly smirked.   
Nicole liked her thinking, ‘so basically, you want every date to go wrong?’  
‘Not in a way that you get hurt like this no…’  
Sliding one of her hands up Waverly’s back, Nicole pulled her in a little closer, ‘Waverly, I’m absolutely fine… I’ve been hurt a lot worse than this, plus I heal quickly.’  
‘I know… I just don’t like seeing you hurt…’ Waverly pouted.  
Nicole chuckled, ‘that’s sweet…’ she took the damp cloth out of Waverly’s hand so that she could pull the human in for another kiss. They had completely forgotten that Nedley’s office door was wide open but it was something that didn’t cross their minds. Luckily for them, Wynonna and Nedley’s attention was entirely on the werewolf still asleep locked up in the weapons cage. Completely lost in each other, as fingers gripped onto skin and tongues caressed, it was only when Wynonna called out that they pulled apart.  
‘Woah… something is happening!’ Wynonna shouted. Nicole and Waverly looked at each other for a moment before Waverly moved out of the office. She beckoned Nicole to follow, but the main lobby of the library was now bathed in sunlight meaning she would have to remain confined to her current location. She gestured that Waverly should go however.  
Reaching Wynonna’s side, Waverly and Nedley watched with the slayer as the beast slowly transformed back into a human man. Their eyes widened with shock at who their eyes fell upon. Inside the cage, the boy blinked trying to ascertain where he had woken up. It was clear that he had absolutely no idea where he was. He leapt to his feet to face the three people staring in at him.  
‘Pete?’ Waverly gasped.  
Wynonna blinked and moved her eyes away from the naked boy just as Waverly and Nedley did, ‘waaaaaay too much of Pete.’

The clouds brightening above him, Jeremy opened his eyes and blinked into the daylight. He noticed immediately that he was once again outside and not in his bed where he expected. Pushing himself up onto his elbows he looked around him and realised that he was surrounded by gravestones and that once again he was wearing no clothes. The feel of the cool grass beneath his body alerted him before he looked down and saw how exposed he was.  
‘What the hell?’ he asked himself as he looked around. ‘Not again…’ Nervously, he got to his feet and found himself face to face with a very surprised gardener. Luckily, Jeremy was standing behind a well-positioned grave stone, but he still moved his hands in place to try and maintain his modesty. The stunned man blinked at the sight of the naked teenager in front of him.   
‘Morning,’ Jeremy smiled awkwardly. He eyed the gardener’s coat. ‘Do you think I could um…’ he went to gesture but remembered why he had his hands where they were. The man was still in shock. ‘Please…’ It took a moment, but to Jeremy’s relief he began to shrug the coat off his shoulders and stepped forward holding it out whilst carefully averting his eyes. Jeremy snatched it out of the gardener’s hands and wrapped it around him. The gardener was considerably taller than him so the coat covered everything it needed to. ‘Have a nice day…’ Jeremy said before heading off across the grave yard towards the gate at the far end. The gardener watched him go, still completely dumbfounded. 

With Waverly in tow, Nedley led Nicole through the darkest parts of the library and out to the back loading area. There at the back of the store room was a hatch which lead down into the sewers below.  
‘Thank you Nedley,’ she said as he stepped away leaving it open.  
‘Of course… you can use this anytime,’ he nodded politely before leaving to go back into the library where Pete was now out of the cage and putting on some clothes they had found in lost and found.  
‘Do you have to go?’ Waverly asked as Nicole moved to start down the ladder into the dark below.  
‘I don’t want to,’ Nicole admitted taking her hand. ‘But I need…’ she stopped a little embarrassed. ‘I need to get my strength back up… it’ll help this heal.’ She gestured to her cheek which looked nasty and swollen.  
‘Do you mean you need to… eat?’ Waverly asked. Nicole shifted ashamed. ‘Hey…’ Waverly stepped forward placing her hand against Nicole’s uninjured cheek. ‘When I said I wanted to do this… it means I want to do this with you and everything that makes you you.’ Surprised, Nicole met her eyes. ‘All of it.’  
With a word, Nicole brought their lips together again. It was something she still couldn’t believe that she was able to do and she had made a promise to herself that she would never take any kiss for granted.   
‘Though I have a question…’ Waverly said thoughtfully. ‘You um… you looked amazing the other night…’ Nicole looked a little bashful at the comment. ‘How did you do that?’  
‘What do you mean?’  
‘Well… you have no reflection…’  
Nicole could see what Waverly was getting at, ‘camera… it’s the only thing in which I have a reflection.’  
‘Oh…’ Waverly said as she imagined Nicole getting ready with a camera. It brought a smile to her face. ‘Well keep using it because it definitely works.’  
Their lips found each other’s again, soft and exploring. Grudgingly, Nicole pulled away as her light-headedness caused by her growing hunger worsened. ‘I have to go… but I’ll see you tonight?’  
‘Of course…’ Waverly kept her hand on Nicole’s cheek for as long as she could before the vampire slipped away down the hatch closing it behind her. Waverly allowed herself a moment and placed her fingers on her lips still able to feel Nicole’s kiss upon them. With a wistful smile, she shook herself out of it and returned to the library where Pete sat looking a little strange in his mismatch of clothes that had been acquired for him.  
‘So how long have you been a werewolf?’ Nedley asked him.  
‘A few years… I chain myself up in my basement every night when there is a full moon,’ Pete explained. ‘But somehow I’ve been breaking out of them for the past two nights. It’s like I’ve got… stronger…’  
‘So you broke out last night and the night before?’ Wynonna asked pensively.  
Pete caught her worried look, ‘yeah… why?’ Wynonna fetched the paper from the day before and handed it to him. Pete only had to read the headline to see Wynonna’s meaning. ‘Oh god.’ He covered his mouth with his hand mortified. He dropped the paper. It was clear he was feeling nauseated as his face went pale as he coughed. ‘That could have been me…’  
‘Do you have any memory of it?’ Wynonna asked.  
‘None at all… I never do of the nights when I transform.’  
‘Werewolves don’t,’ Nedley agreed. ‘When people become the werewolf that’s all that they are the beast, the person is completely lost. It’s why the Council are trying to crack down on werewolf hunters. They think the trophy they kill is a monster, but really they’ve killed a human being.’ He moved his eyes from Wynonna back to Pete who still looked horrified at what he might have done. ‘We’ve still got one full moon left in this cycle. We’ll lock you back in the cage tonight. You won’t be able to get out of there and we can keep an eye on you.’ Pete nodded a long his mind still obviously preoccupied. Nedley saw this. ‘Son, you can’t blame yourself… it wasn’t you.’ Once again, Pete nodded but he didn’t look any better.  
‘Come on…’ Wynonna said helping him to stand up from where he was sitting. ‘Waverly and I will get you home.’ Having heard the end of the conversation, Waverly showed her approval by fishing her jeep’s keys out of her bag. Nedley watched as the girls helped the inconsolable Pete out of the library. They had timed their exit well as soon the corridors would be swarming with the start of another school day.

Not long after Waverly, Wynonna and Pete’s departure Jeremy, now wearing his own clothes, entered the library looking a little flustered. Nedley was now in his office with an array of books scattered across his desk as he poured over the one currently in his hands.  
Jeremy looked around for the others before heading towards the office, ‘hi Nedley.’  
A little startled, Nedley looked up from his book, ‘oh hello there Jeremy…’  
‘Where is everybody?’  
‘They’re taking Pete home…’  
Jeremy frowned, ‘Pete?’  
‘Oh yes…’ Nedley stood up from his chair to face the teenager. ‘… we think we’ve found out what or really who the beast is…’ he paused for a moment. ‘It’s Pete…’  
Now Jeremy looked even more confused, ‘Pete? How is it Pete?’  
‘The beast is a werewolf… he’s a… werewolf.’  
‘Pete’s a werewolf?’ Jeremy repeated in disbelief.  
Nedley could see the bewilderment in his eyes, ‘I’m guessing he’s a friend of yours?’ Jeremy heard the way that Nedley said friend, it wasn’t in disapproval, but Nedley was aware of Jeremy’s sexuality.  
‘Yeah…’ Jeremy said his mind lost in thought as he backed away. ‘Something like that…’ As he turned to walk away from Nedley, he looked at the healing wound on his hand. The one left after Pete had bitten him.

Wynonna watched as Dolls sparred with one his colleagues. It was a tough session; sweat dripped off his forehead and seeped through his green sleeveless top. They spun and ducked and punched as they practised overcoming a counter attack. Wynonna found her heart beating harder within her chest as she observed Dolls’ muscly arms as they moved skilfully through the air. The groan from Allenbach as his back hit the mat signalled the end of the session. Turning, Dolls smiled when he saw Wynonna.  
‘That looked intense,’ she retorted as he approached.  
Dolls chuckled as he removed the strapping from around his hands, ‘that… was nothing compared to real drills…’  
‘Real drills?’ Wynonna asked raising one eyebrow.  
‘Usually there’s blood and someone ends up with a broken nose…’ Dolls told her. ‘But knowing those grisly details is not why you’re here is it?’ He began to walk out of the room and down the corridor placing the strapping in the bin as they passed.   
‘Well as much as I love watching men getting all physical and sweaty with each other, no… it’s not.’ They turned a corner so they were back out in the main room walking around the pit. ‘We caught the beast last night.’ She smirked a little amused. ‘So Belle is probably somewhere a little pissed off…’  
‘What?’ Dolls frowned lost.  
‘Oh come on… Disney?’  
Dolls stopped walking and turned to face the slayer not registering the joke at all. He was too focused on the facts as a true soldier would be, ‘the beast? The one that might have mauled the kid the other night?’  
‘Note to self don’t make jokes with a soldier on duty,’ Wynonna muttered. ‘Have you been tracking it too then?’  
‘It’s been on our radar yes,’ Dolls told her. ‘There was another kid killed last night.’  
‘Another?’ Wynonna exclaimed looking horrified. ‘But… we caught it…’  
‘It could have been before or…’ he paused at the awful idea. ‘There could be another.’  
‘Another!’ Wynonna exclaimed causing a few people around them to look over. Wynonna met their eyes before returning her focus to Dolls. ‘Another werewolf?’  
‘Werewolf?’ Dolls asked puzzled.  
‘That’s what we caught,’ Wynonna explained. ‘It’s Pete, a kid from my school. We caught him and put him in the weapons cage until the morning. When he transformed back in the morning we saw who the werewolf was. Trust me; it was a surprise for all of us.’  
‘And where is he now?’ Dolls asked worried.  
‘Well he’s at home I guess…’ Wynonna shrugged.  
Stunned, Dolls recoiled, ‘he’s at home!? You let a werewolf free?’  
‘Yeah…’ Wynonna said annoyed at the soldier’s reaction. ‘He’s human Dolls… only a werewolf three days out of the month.’  
‘He might have killed people!’ Dolls argued.  
‘He has no idea what he’s doing when he’s a werewolf,’ Wynonna shot back feeling herself getting very angry and feeling very uncomfortable with who she was getting angry with. ‘The wolf completely takes over and he is in no control of it.’ She calmed her voice down. ‘You should have seen him this morning, he was mortified at the thought he might have killed someone.’ She looked up into Dolls’ eyes, she could see that he was now conflicted, muddled by what he was being told. ‘You should know that more than anyone Dolls…’  
He could hear the disappointment in her voice and it stung in his chest, ‘I’m sorry…’ he said quietly. ‘I guess I still have stuff to learn about… things around here…’  
‘Yes you really do,’ Wynonna agreed. She was surprised at Dolls’ reaction after what he done for Jeremy just a few days ago. ‘It’s not black and white, not all demons are bad… I mean, look at Nicole.’ Dolls nodded knowing she was right. Wynonna looked him up and down unable to shake the disappointment of his reaction. ‘Look I’ve got to go… let me know if you lot find out anymore okay.’ Dolls went to reply, he wanted to apologise again, but Wynonna was already walking away.

This time, Waverly brought her hand up to knock. She listened apprehensively for a reply. She could hear someone moving about inside before someone fumbled with the lock and opened the door. Waverly smiled as the sleepy face of Nicole appeared in the widening crack between the door and wall.  
‘Hey…’ Waverly said softly. Nicole smiled and stepped aside to let Waverly in. She closed the door and turned to face the concerned human standing before her. ‘How are you… wow…’ she blinked astonished as her eyes fell upon Nicole’s check. The slashes on her face had healed at the rate of what would take a human three to four days. The wounds were closed and already healing over. Waverly reached up and tentatively touched them. Nicole didn’t flinch as the wounds were no longer painful. ‘That’s amazing…’  
‘It’s a useful thing to have,’ Nicole agreed. She brought her hand up to Waverly’s hair and stroked her fingers down a strand of hair. ‘How are you doing?’  
‘I’m exhausted,’ Waverly confessed. ‘Demon hunting… or werewolf hunting all night and then tending to wounded… girlfr…’ she stopped herself. ‘Um… wounded people who…’ her thoughts failed her; she was already too embarrassed by her slip.  
Nicole could see Waverly’s blushing but was delighted by what she had been about to say. However the vampire decided against reacting due to embarrassment written all over Waverly’s face. ‘Come on…’ she took Waverly’s hand and moved towards the bedroom. Waverly looked stunned. Nicole chuckled softly, ‘just to have a lie down. I think you could do with some sleep.’   
Waverly was still processing what she thought Nicole trying to initiate, ‘I um…’  
Worried, Nicole stepped back to Waverly placing her hands on Waverly’s upper arms to steady her, ‘hey…’ she said softly. ‘I will never ask, I will never push… we will only ever do what you are comfortable with.’ Calmed by the words, Waverly cupped Nicole’s face tenderly before bringing their lips together in a soft and simple kiss. After they parted, Nicole took Waverly’s hand again leading her towards the bedroom. Nicole lay down first and shuffled over making room for Waverly. Waverly hesitated for a moment but realised there was nowhere she would rather be. She should be at school, but concentration was not something she would have been good at if she was there due to just how tired she was. Slowly, she sat down on the bed then swung her legs on so she was lying down facing away from Nicole. Nicole complied exactly how Waverly wanted her to as she felt the vampire’s arm snake around her waist and her body press up against her back. Waverly took Nicole’s hand in her own and held it close as she closed her eyes and relaxed into the pillow. It was strange not to feel any warmth coming from the body wrapped around her, but this did nothing to dull the immense serenity it brought. She felt her thoughts quieten, her breathing calm and her body relax. Soon, in a vampire’s arms, Waverly was asleep.

His wounded hand resting on his laptop, Jeremy typed in the words that were scaring him the most.   
‘How does someone become a werewolf?’  
His finger hovered over the enter button for a moment but Jeremy knew it was what he had to do. With his hand shaking, he hit the key. Endless results pinged up in the search engine as his eyes scanned over them all. Finally they came to rest over one which had had the most hits. He moved the mouse and clicked it. He felt his heart pounding inside his chest as he scrolled down the page reading the words. They came to rest over a sentence which resonated and struck fear within him.  
‘A person becomes a werewolf if they are bitten by another who is also a werewolf.’  
Jeremy felt himself stop breathing for a moment. He stared at his hand which was now clenching. It felt alien, like it wasn’t a part of his body. His breathing became more rapid as the panic began to build. The realisation that his life could have been changed beyond anything he could control. Without thinking, Jeremy threw his laptop off his lap. It fell to the floor and smashed into pieces at the sheer force in which it had been thrown. Unmoved and unconcerned by this, Jeremy brought his hands to his face in terror.  
Suddenly, his mind clicked onto a thought. He threw himself off his bed and pulled open the curtains. The darkening sky was filled with cloud but behind one Jeremy could see the shape that he feared. Slowly, as the clouds drifted apart a piece of clear sky appeared over the silvery white shape that shone down on him. Jeremy’s eyes widened as he began to feel the effects of it immediately. Crying out in pain, his back jarred and jerked as he collapsed onto the floor.


	12. New Moon Rising Part 2

Waverly’s eyes fluttered open and for a moment she was very confused as she looked around a dark blue coloured room. The lack of windows reminded her where she was as she glanced over the walls. The low lighting from the light above the bed allowed Waverly to see the shapes of the paintings of the wall and one section which was littered with a wide selection of weapons: swords, guns and various others which must have been acquired from all over the world.   
As her head continued to turn all the way over they came to lie on the sleeping red head next to her. With a little smile, Waverly turned carefully onto her side so that she was facing the vampire. She was absolutely silent, so still with no rise of her chest to breathe and no snoring due to the lack of breath. However, due to how vampires died Waverly knew that Nicole was perfectly fine as lay on her front her face turned towards the human. Carefully, so not to disturb her, Waverly reached over and tucked a stray strand of her hair behind Nicole’s ear. Unable to take her hand away to keep the touch, Waverly used the back of her hand to trace the side of Nicole’s face and down her cheek.  
‘You’re so beautiful…’ To her embarrassment, Nicole’s mouth curled up into a smile. Waverly blushed uncontrollably, ‘you’re supposed to be asleep…’  
‘Heightened senses, it’s rather annoying…’ Nicole said keeping her eyes closed. She shuffled closer to Waverly on the bed placing her arm over Waverly’s waist. ‘But then I get to hear lovely things.’  
‘You weren’t supposed to hear that…’ Waverly confessed.  
‘Why?’ Nicole asked playfully opening her eyes. ‘Is it not true?’  
‘No… no… not at all…’ Waverly said moving even closer to the vampire so that their noses were almost touching keeping her hand on Nicole’s face stroking it tenderly. ‘I just… I’ve never wanted to say these things before. It feels… strange.’  
Nicole ran her hand up and down Waverly’s back, ‘it’s been a long time since I’ve heard them… and them really mean something.’  
Breaking their eye contact, Waverly looked down, ‘of course… Shae…’  
‘Waves…’ Nicole used one finger to lift Waverly’s chin up so their eyes met again. There was real sincerity in Nicole’s as she gazed at Waverly intensely and her hand made its way to Waverly’s cheek. ‘You mean so much more than Shae.’  
‘I know,’ Waverly whispered. ‘You killed her for me.’  
‘I don’t want to think about her anymore,’ her fingers made their way to Waverly’s lips. Her thumb traced them softly. ‘She’s gone… and you’re here. You’re my new forever.’ Nicole instantly regretted saying it fearing it might have been a little too much and looked away bashfully. This time it was Waverly’s turn to bring Nicole back with her hand. Nicole still looking unsure and a little self-conscious, as she focused on Waverly’s lips which were soft with a hint of a smile. They were inviting Nicole in and she did not refuse. As their lips met, Nicole rolled onto her back pulling Waverly with her. Waverly happily submitted letting the weight of her body press down into the vampire’s. She let out a sigh at the touch and melted into Nicole’s arms as their lips parted and met again.

Dolls waited patiently for the man in Lucado’s office to exit, then stepped forward and knocked gently using one of his knuckles on the door. Lucado made him wait as she made her way around her desk, sat down and had organised the papers scattered across it.  
‘Enter,’ she said firmly clasping her hands together and watching him walk in. Dolls took his place in front of her desk and bowed respectfully. ‘Ah Dolls… I’ve been meaning to catch up with you.’ Dolls looked interested. ‘Did you ever find out what happened to those possessed teenagers? Considering that we never found them?’ Now Lucado’s voice had a different tone, one of suspicion.  
‘Yes ma’am I did, the slayer and her friends dealt with it,’ he shifted his weight a little nervously as he tried to think quickly to cover his tracks. ‘The teenagers did eventually make their way back to the zoo and there they reversed the spell.’  
‘So they did end up back at the zoo… where we originally thought they would go…’ Lucado went on her eyes burning into Dolls, studying him carefully. ‘Strange that they took so many detours along the way.’  
Coughing, Dolls let his thoughts catch up, ‘I went on the intel I had received from civilians, they might have been confused, scared and thought they saw something that they didn’t… I merely relayed what I found out from them to you.’  
‘Um hmm,’ Lucado raising her eyebrows unconvinced. ‘If I knew any better I’d say that you intervened so that you could protect the teenagers?’  
‘No ma’am,’ Dolls lied keeping his hands linked together behind his back. He tried to appear as calm as he could. ‘I would never do anything to jeopardise an Initiative mission. My loyalty is here. I only acted on what I knew.’  
At this, Lucado got up off her chair and walked round her desk so that she could stand right in front of him. ‘You are a fine soldier Agent Dolls, but any soldier can stray. I think you might be developing feelings for our slayer and its clouding your judgement.’  
‘No ma’am… she is simply a friend, a connection for the Initiative. My focus is here.’  
‘Good,’ she seemed satisfied but as Dolls studied her face he could see that was still sceptical. ‘But I’m watching you Dolls, I’m watching you like a hawk.’ She picked up a piece of paper from her desk and showed it to him. Dolls took it and looked down at a blurry and dark photo of what appeared to be a werewolf. ‘This is our current target. It has claimed at least two lives in the last two days and no matter what this thing is, we are going to kill it or bring it in. Do you understand?’ Dolls mind flashed back to his conversation with Wynonna but despite this, he nodded. ‘Anything that claims lives needs to be dealt with and dealt with it will be.’ She snatched the paper out of Dolls’ hand.   
‘Is this shoot on sight ma’am?’ Dolls asked.  
‘Shoot or capture… whatever it takes,’ Lucado said as she walked back round to sit in her chair. ‘Whether you agree with it or not, you are to carry out the orders that are given to you.’ The looks in her eyes turned nasty and cold as she stared at him. ‘You need to remember what you are and how we help you here. Without us, without your medication, you will be out of control and you will become the thing we hunt and we would have exactly the same orders to all soldiers hunting you.’  
Dolls let this settle in, ‘I understand ma’am.’  
‘I hope truly so Agent Dolls… you are dismissed.’  
His hands down by his sides, Dolls bowed slightly once again to show his respect before turning and walking out of the office his mind fighting all the conflicting thoughts whirling around inside it.

Growling and snarling, the creature broke through the trees until it was standing in the middle of the road covered in moonlight. A solitary car making its way down the road veered out of the way hurriedly smashing into one parked at the side. Panicking, the occupants inside flew out of the car and ran screaming down the road. Sniffing into the air, the beast caught the scent of the blood coming from a small wound on one of the victims head and gave chase. Using all fours, it was able to get up a terrific speed gaining on the couple as they tore down the street crying out for help. However, like most of Purgatory at night, the streets were deserted. Turning the corner, the two desperate humans found themselves running down Purgatory’s main street right in front of Shorty’s. Suddenly, the creature stopped pursuing them and halted right in front of the bar’s front door. At the sound of the people inside, the clinking of glasses, the sound of laughter and sense of the warmth of the bodies, the beast turned to give in to its new focus.

Her arm resting on the open door, Wynonna smiled comfortingly at Pete as he walked towards her. She could see the shame in his eyes. ‘It’s okay…’ she said. ‘No judging here…’ Pete didn’t speak; instead he just nodded and walked into the cage.   
In the cage, Pete saw that he was once again completely exposed with nothing hide what was going to happen when the sun went down in less than an hour, ‘can I have something to…’ he gestured to cage and to himself.  
‘Oh…’ Wynonna caught on quickly. ‘Oh… yeah…’ she stopped a little amused. ‘Well, we’ve already seen everything so…’ Pete didn’t look quite as entertained. ‘Right okay… I’ll sort it.’ She looked around and saw a blanket in Nedley’s office. She fetched it and began to stuff the ends through the holes of the cage so that it hung down and gave Pete some privacy. She stepped back and admired her rather shabby work. ‘We’ll work on it…’  
‘Thank you,’ Pete said appreciatively. He removed his jacket and sat down on the floor. He sat to one side so that Wynonna could still see him. ‘I hear there was another…’  
‘It can’t have been you,’ Wynonna said quickly. ‘So don’t you even think about that…’  
Pete nodded but his face didn’t lift. He was still tortured by the thought of the boy he had killed. ‘Sometimes I wish I knew what I did…’ he tried to explain. ‘Because then I could apologise to the families I might have hurt.’  
‘You wouldn’t want that… I know someone who has to live with the guilt of everyone she has ever killed and its torture for her.’  
‘Who’s that?’ Pete asked.  
‘A vampire… with a soul…’ Wynonna replied. ‘She was cursed to remember everyone she had ever murdered and with the soul to feel the real pain of it… trust me, you have the better deal.’  
‘Sounds like it,’ Pete agreed. ‘Listen… something else has been on my mind…’ Wynonna caught his eye to show he had her attention. ‘… Jeremy…’ he took a moment to gather himself. ‘I bit him.’  
At first Wynonna laughed, but then saw the seriousness on Pete’s face, ‘you bit him?’  
‘When he was acting weird… which I’m now guessing was something supernatural due to what you guys seem to know about. When he attacked me, I… bit him…’  
Wynonna looked confused at the statement, ‘okay?’  
Pete stared at his hands before taking another deep breath and looking up into the slayer’s eyes, ‘if a werewolf bites someone who is not already a demon and is completely human… there is a chance that…’ he closed his eyes. Considering Jeremy was her friend, he predicted that she would not take this well. ‘…they might become a werewolf too…’  
It a moment, but soon the facts hit Wynonna like a punch in the face, ‘are you joking?’  
‘I’m sorry, I’m not no…’ Pete said looking extremely guilt-ridden.  
‘You bit him and now he could be a…’ he stopped and tried to comprehend it. She looked at him livid. ‘You knew what you were when you bit him!’  
‘I know!’ Pete cried covering his face with his hands. ‘I panicked! I had five people around him acting like animals… I simply panicked!’ He got to his feet and held onto the cage trying to find some mercy in the slayer’s fury. ‘It’s been tearing me up inside. I’ve been praying that it didn’t do anything and that he might be okay but…’  
Wynonna had the same thought, ‘there was another attack last night… when you were in here.’ She covered her mouth with her hand. ‘Oh my god…’  
As Wynonna tried to process everything that she had just learned, Dolls burst through the library Dolls looking flustered, ‘Wynonna…’ she couldn’t look at him for a moment. She was simply too stunned. ‘Wynonna!’ The raised voice caught her attention. However, when she looked at the soldier, he was looking at Pete. ‘Why is there a man in a cage?’  
‘That’s Pete… the werewolf.’ Wynonna told him. ‘He’s there for when he transforms tonight, so he can’t hurt anyone.’  
‘But if he’s here… then who’s at Shorty’s right now?’ Wynonna looked confused. ‘That’s why I’m here. The Initiative are on their way there as something is attacking the bar… described as a wolf like creature.’  
Wynonna looked at Pete who had begun to morph. As his features hardened and changed, he wore the same horrified expression as the slayer. ‘Jeremy,’ she breathed before tearing out of the library.

‘It’s been seen at the bar,' Allenbach told Hardy as they filed into the weapons room.  
‘Oh wow… I’m going to get one this time,’ Hardy grinned as he put on his combat vest.  
‘You’re always so keen to kill things,’ Allenbach laughed though it was clear there was a little concern in his voice.  
‘Isn’t that why we’re here,’ Hardy smirked. ‘To take out the bad guys.’  
Allenbach nodded. In its simplest form, Hardy wasn’t wrong. ‘Dolls seems to think there’s a little bit more to it than that,’ he said. ‘That it’s not that black and white, not the way Lucado puts it.’  
‘How can it not be?’ Hardy argued. ‘This thing has killed two people… I’m going shoot it between the eyes.’  
‘Is it a thing though? Do we really know what it is?’  
Hardy looked at him dismissively, ‘does it matter?’ He clicked his gun, ensuring that it was all in place and assembled ready for the fight ahead. He looked at Allenbach a little unimpressed. ‘Our job is to keep the world safe… whatever it takes.’ He looked around. ‘Where is Dolls?’  
‘He went ahead to survey the situation… or so I heard.’ Allenbach replied.  
‘Like he surveyed the last situation?’ Hardy sneered. ‘The man is losing his touch.’  
‘He made a mistake,’ Allenbach snapped.   
‘Lucado seems to favour him and I have no idea why. What makes him so damn special?’ Hardy didn’t stick around to wait for the answer as the disdain dripped from his lips. Allenbach watched Hardy walk away to join the others who were filing out of the door ready to board the vehicles waiting outside. He took a moment to sit down on the bench behind him. He held his head in his hands for a moment.  
‘Allenbach… come on man.’ Ewan looked up at the solider and nodded. Reaching beside him he grabbed his gun and followed the man out of the door and into one of the vehicles standing ready outside. Packed into four jeeps, twenty four soldiers made their way through the night to Shorty’s.

As the phone buzzed on the side table, Waverly drowsily opened her eyes. She was now lying on her back with Nicole’s arm across her chest. The vampire’s head was nestled into Waverly’s neck as she slept soundly. Waverly smiled down at her and placed a gentle kiss on Nicole’s cool skin before wiggling as gently as she could to reach the phone. Her arm stretched out she just about reached it and saw that it was Wynonna calling.  
‘Hello?’ At the sound of Waverly’s voice, Nicole’s eyes flickered open. ‘Woah, Wynonna slow down…’ she gasped as she listened to what Wynonna had to say next. ‘I’m sorry what!?’ she completely forgot Nicole for a moment and sat up. Luckily, Nicole had already propped herself up. ‘Oh Jesus… okay… okay… oh my god…’ Behind her, Nicole became concerned at Waverly’s raised voice. Unfortunately, even with her advanced hearing she was unable to make out what Wynonna was saying on the other side of the phone. ‘We’ll be right there… I’m with Nicole… we’ll be there Wynonna.’ She hung up and took a moment to catch her breath.  
Nicole moved closer to Waverly, ‘what’s up?’  
Waverly paused for a moment then turned to Nicole, ‘Wynonna thinks… she thinks… um…’ she was struggling with the thought. ‘She thinks Jeremy is the other werewolf.’  
‘Jeremy?’ Nicole checked shocked.  
‘Pete bit him…’  
‘Pete? The werewolf… bit Jeremy…’ Nicole blinked.   
‘Yes, when Jeremy was possessed,’ Waverly explained remembering. ‘I remember. When the pack attacked Pete, Jeremy went for him and in defence; Pete bit Jeremy on the hand.’  
‘Yep, that would do it.’ She had seen it many times over the years.  
Waverly turned to look at her, ‘it can’t be Jeremy… it can’t…’ her voice cracked with her worry.  
‘Hey…’ Nicole put her hands up to Waverly’s face to calm her, ‘if it is, we’ll help him… he’ll still be Jeremy for all but three days of the month…’  
Waverly took a moment to place her head against Nicole’s to try and calm her thoughts. She had known Jeremy since they were young and couldn’t help but feel that this could change everything despite what Nicole was saying. ‘Anyway, something is attacking Shorty’s,’ She continued getting up and grabbing her shoes. ‘Could be the werewolf which could now be Jeremy, or it could be something else… whatever it is, we have to get there…’ Nicole was quick to agree. She too grabbed her things, throwing on a blue jumper and some shoes before following Waverly out of the door.

As they sprinted towards the bar, Wynonna and Dolls could hear the screaming already. Having only just recovered from the damage after the Harvest ritual, it was clear that the inside was being trashed once again from the sounds of crashing and banging. From the other side of the town, Waverly and Nicole ran up to them. Waverly still looked shaken, still reeling from Wynonna’s news.  
‘It’s Jeremy?’ she asked. The entire way her mind had been questioning the very idea.  
‘Could be,’ Wynonna replied throwing her arms out. ‘We don’t know for sure.’  
Beside them, Dolls put his finger to his ear piece. He listened then acknowledged the command he had received before turning to those with him, ‘that was Lucado, the Initiative is here…’ he looked awkward. ‘We’ve been ordered to move in and…’ he stopped, but the others knew perfectly well what he had been ordered to do.  
‘If it is Jeremy…’ Wynonna said angrily. ‘No one is laying a finger on him.’  
‘They won’t see it as a possible human…’ Dolls warned her.  
‘We’ll have to make them then, won’t we? Because if any solider even goes to pull the trigger on my friend, I’ll snap the finger that does so right off.’  
The others stood stunned at her words as she tore away from the group and ran towards the bar. Waverly looked at Dolls pleadingly before she followed the slayer into the bar with Nicole behind her. Dolls closed his eyes and took a few moments to gather his thoughts before he too ran into to face whatever was causing the chaos inside.  
Inside, the scene was exactly what they were expecting. A creature was attacking the petrified people inside. People already lay on the floor with various injuries, whilst others scrambled to get away or hide away from sight. As the group approached they saw that it was indeed a werewolf and was therefore very likely to be Jeremy.  
‘Oh god…’ Waverly said under her breath. She looked at the people on the floor and began checking them. To her relief, the ones that she could reach were still alive. She looked at Nicole, ‘we have to get these people out of here.’ Nicole nodded agreeing and began to pick the casualties up and take them outside whilst Waverly called 911. She ensured the other terrified customers began making their way out of the bar with hers and Nicole’s help.  
‘Hey!’ Wynonna’s cry filled the bar capturing the creature’s attention. Snarling, with froth building at the side of its mouth, the beast turned to face her. Wynonna shook her head as she took in the sight before her, ‘Jeremy?’ There was no response, the creature just simply growled again and lunged forward. Wynonna rebuffed it easily swinging her leg and sending it reeling into one of the bar’s pillars. ‘Come on Jeremy… if you’re in there, help me out…’ she knew what she was saying was no good, but she felt like she had to because of who she might be fighting. The beast however did not hesitate at all in coming at the slayer again.  
As it did, soldiers filtered in from all angles. Some helped get the rest of the members of the public out of the building whilst the others surrounded where Wynonna continued to grapple with the werewolf. It swung its arms clumsily hoping to connect with Wynonna’s body but the slayer was too quick and was able to bend and spin out of the way each time. Watching on, Dolls was all too aware of the situation building around him and what the orders of the Initiative were. The soldiers gathered, guns up, eyes fixed on the beast. Compelled by his duty, Dolls fell back in line and did the same.  
‘Dolls?’ Waverly questioned as saw what he was doing. ‘You can’t…’  
Tightening his teeth, Dolls kept his eyes fixed on the fight in front of him, ‘Waverly… stand back…’  
‘But that could be Jeremy!’ Waverly cried.  
‘Waverly!’ Dolls spun and aimed the gun straight at her. Bewildered, Waverly staggered back. Furious, Nicole ran forward and threw herself in between Dolls and Waverly. Due to her anger, her vampire face came into effect as she glared at the man before her. She snarled at him angrily through her sharp pointed teeth.  
‘You know I can take you down in a moment,’ Nicole seethed at the soldier. ‘Don’t you make that mistake because I will not hesitate…’  
Dolls did not want his fight to be with them. He looked at them almost apologetically before he pulled a small wooden cross out of his pocket and held it up to Nicole. ‘It’s my duty…’ he said as Nicole stumbled back growling away from the shape which could cause her so much pain.   
Waverly held on tightly to Nicole as tears began to appear in her eyes, ‘please Dolls… don’t…’ She tried to fight her way past the vampire but Nicole continued to hold her back. Without a flicker of emotion on his face, Dolls raised his gun again and turned back to where Wynonna had the beast on the floor. She had jumped onto his back and had her arm around its neck weakening it.  
‘Excellent slayer,’ came Lucado’s voice as she stepped into view. ‘Now finish it.’  
Still struggling to keep the werewolf under control she looked up at Lucado mortified, ‘I’m not finishing anything.’  
‘That is a demon Wynonna…’ she raised her arms to gesture to her soldiers. ‘We are in the business of killing demons.’ She looked over at Nicole in her vampire form, who was still protecting Waverly. ‘Something I see you’re not exactly good at… for what you are.’ From behind Nicole’s arm, Waverly shot daggers at the woman. Her heart filled with fear that Nicole was a target as well as the werewolf.  
‘You leave her out of this!’ Wynonna cried her voice wavering in her struggle with the werewolf.  
‘She’s a demon isn’t she?’ Lucado pointed out. ‘That thing right there that you’re trying to save is also evil.’  
‘It’s so much more complicated than that!’ Wynonna protested drawing Lucado’s attention back to her and the beast between her arms.   
‘Not for me,’ Lucado stated coldly. She looked directly at Dolls. ‘Finish this. And when you’re done with it, you can finish off the vampire too.’  
Waverly’s chest stung with fear as she clutched onto Nicole. Nicole however thought nothing of herself and remained standing in front of the human protecting her from could be about to happen. Dolls adjusted his hands around the weapon and held it close to his face. He looked right down the barrel making sure his aim was true and good. Wynonna was now looking at him, her eyes begging him with everything she had as she used all her strength to keep the werewolf in capacitated on the floor.   
‘Dolls…’ she beseeched. ‘You know who this could be… you know who Nicole is.’  
‘Dolls... carry out your order!’ Lucado barked.   
‘Nicole is good, despite what she is and the person in here has no control of what they do. Surely the Initiative should be helping people like this! You have the resources!’ she glared at Lucado furiously.  
Dolls closed his finger around the trigger, his aim right between the werewolf’s eyes. However, despite his determined movements, Wynonna could see the conflict in his face.  
‘This could be a person…’ Wynonna tried. ‘A person… like you…’  
‘Dolls!’ came Lucado’s controlled but determined cry again.  
For a split second, it looked like Dolls was going to pull the trigger but, after a few pained movements of his mouth and eyes as he struggled with his decision, instead to Wynonna’s relief and Lucado’s astonishment Dolls lowered his weapon, ‘no…’ he moved out of the circle of soldiers, who couldn’t hide their shock by glancing at each other, and stood in front of the werewolf looking directly at Lucado so that it could not be shot directly in the head by any of the others. Behind his legs, the werewolf had become limp and weak as Wynonna’s grip took it into unconsciousness. ‘Demons are not black and white… this is not just a demon, only for three days out of the month, for the rest this is a person. The demon within a human is something which can be controlled.’ He swallowed aware of the devastation he was causing to his Initiative career. This was sure to finish it. ‘I will not let you take its life.’  
Lucado gasped simply lost for words, ‘are you kidding me soldier? Fall back in line!’  
‘No ma’am,’ Dolls said staying strong. ‘I cannot do what is wrong.’  
‘Well then, someone else will do it for you.’  
At this, Waverly took advantage of Nicole’s loosened grip on her to rush forward around Nicole to also stand between the wolf and the soldiers. Nicole tried to grab her but was too slow. She watched horrified as Waverly took her place in front of the werewolf between it and the soldiers. Overcome with her feelings for the human Nicole was rooted to the spot for a moment but was able to gather herself, she too made her way forward. She made sure that her position in front of the werewolf was next to Waverly. She took her hand and entwined their fingers afraid for Waverly’s life and Jeremy’s if he was the person inside the creature on the floor. Waverly looked up into her eyes with adoration and clasped her fingers tightly back around Nicole’s. Together they turned to face the soldiers together to create another barrier between the soldiers the werewolf, whether it was Jeremy or not, there was a person inside, a person worth protecting.  
‘I suggest you stand down,’ Wynonna stated firmly. ‘This not a fight we’re going to let you win.’  
‘Have you all lost your minds?’ Lucado demanded in disbelief.  
‘No… I think we’re the ones who have them on right…’ Wynonna said looking at her friends proudly, especially Dolls. She knew that if Nedley were with them also, he would be standing alongside them as well. ‘…it’s you that’s about to kill a human being. I think that is a good definition of completely losing your mind.’  
Unable to say anymore, Lucado glared at the slayer and Dolls fuming. With a click of her fingers, the other soldiers raised their weapons so they were no longer fixed on the werewolf. With another wave of Lucado’s hand, they turned in unison and marched out of the bar leaving the commander behind.  
‘You haven’t heard the last of this solider… that’s if you’re still one by the time I’ve finished with you,’ she spat at Dolls before turning on her heels and disappearing into the darkness.  
Once they had gone, all four let out the breath they were holding and turned to face each other and the werewolf passed out between them.  
‘What now?’ Waverly asked as she fell into Nicole’s arms. Nicole, face back to human, felt the same relief and wrapped her arms around the shorter girl resting her chin on the top of her head.  
‘We get Jeremy… or whoever this is back to the cage,’ Wynonna replied.  
‘Isn’t Pete already in there?’ Waverly continued.  
‘Well… we can invent the first ever werewolf play date… fun for all involved.’  
They looked down at the wolf between them. It now looked so peaceful as its chest rose and fell heavily as it slept. Its jagged teeth were not covered in blood but its claws were from it had inflicted injuries of some of the bar’s customers. Thankfully however it had not claimed a life that night, something they were sure, if it was him, Jeremy would be very relieved to hear.

Watching as Nicole finished putting the werewolf in the boot of Waverly’s jeep, she turned to Dolls who looked like he had made the worse decision of his life.  
‘You okay?’ she asked carefully.  
Dolls kept his eyes focused as Waverly and Nicole struggled to close the boot due to the creature’s pure size, ‘my career is over Wynonna,’ he said sadly before turning to face her. ‘I wouldn’t take what I did back, not for the world but this is going to destroy me.’ Wynonna reached forward and placed a hand on his arm. ‘They supply my medication.’ He voice was beginning to shake. ‘You’ve seen what I am…’  
‘You have us,’ Wynonna assured him.  
‘No offence Wynonna, but I don’t think you can cook up what they’ve been making me at the Initiative…’  
Wynonna looked back at the jeep where Nicole and Waverly had successfully closed the boot and were leaning against it catching their breath, ‘if that’s Jeremy and we’ve saved him… if you’ve just helped to save him, we might…’  
‘He’s just a kid!’ Dolls exclaimed.  
‘He’s a genius Dolls.’  
Dolls laughed uncomfortably, ‘he’ll have to be.’  
Still sitting against the car boot, Waverly looked up into Nicole’s eyes, ‘thank you.’  
‘For what?’ Nicole already knew, but she wanted to hear it.  
‘You don’t have to put your life on the line for any of us,’ Waverly explained. ‘But you keep doing it.’  
Nicole smiled and took Waverly’s hand, ‘there are lots of reasons Waves, my soul, my need to make up for everything I did, protecting the innocent but… there’s only one that really matters to me now.’  
‘What’s that?’  
‘You…’ Nicole said her other hand finding Waverly’s waist. ‘Whatever matters to you matters to me now. Jeremy matters to you, they all matter to you, so they matter to me.’  
‘So you don’t really like them?’ Waverly asked teasingly jabbing her in the arm.  
Nicole rolled her eyes, ‘they’re quite a lot younger than me Waves…’  
‘So am I…’  
Nicole pulled her in close, ‘you’re different.’  
‘Oh I am, am I?’ Waverly giggled. They moved their lips to meet until the sound of a cough behind them caused them to halt. Wynonna shot them an amused look before she gestured to the jeep. Waverly laughed a little embarrassed before she unlocked the jeep again so the group could get in and make their way back to the school where Nedley waited.

Silence had finally descended over the gang as they all sat or lay sleeping in the library. Sitting with a tranquilizer gun that he had sourced, Nedley sat sleeping just outside the cage. Dolls lay curled up on one of the tables with his army jacket underneath his head. Whilst leaning against the librarian’s desk, Nicole slept up against it with Waverly resting up against her.  
Unknown to the gang as they all slept soundly, a morning’s ray of sun was making its way across the floor of the library over to where Waverly and the vampire were sleeping. It wasn’t long before it was shining directly on Nicole’s arm. After a few moments, flames rose from Nicole’s skin. Instantly, she awoke with a pained growl throwing Waverly off her so she could roll into the shadow. The eruption caused everyone to wake up confused. Waverly shrugged off her cardigan and threw it over the flames to help douse them. As they went out, Nicole looked at her relieved but still grimacing from the pain.  
‘Are you okay?’ Waverly asked stroking her face.  
‘I’m fine,’ Nicole reassured her. ‘Don’t worry…’  
‘Well… that’s one hell of an effective alarm,’ Wynonna quipped as she appeared from Nedley’s office where she had been sleeping.  
‘Sorry,’ Nicole said apologetically.  
‘You don’t need to apologise,’ Waverly smiled.  
‘Yeah,’ Wynonna chuckled walking past towards the cage. ‘What she said.’ Her eyes then focused on the feet off two sleeping humans within the cage. ‘Now to see to our sleeping beauties… or technically, beasts…’ The modesty of the people within was still being maintained by the blanket Wynonna had placed there earlier.  
‘Who is it?’ Nedley asked not wanting to look out of respect.  
Wynonna, however, was less worried. She stood on tiptoe and looked inside. She was a little thankful that both of the teenagers were asleep on their stomachs. She looked back at Waverly with a mixed reaction.  
‘Is it…?’ Waverly asked desperate to know.

The soldiers jumped a little startled as Lucado barked at them to enter her room. A little nervously, Allenbach and Hardy took their place in front of her desk, their hands clasped behind their backs. They used only their heads to nod at her but she didn’t notice as she was too busy dealing with her anger.  
‘How could he do this?’ she demanded. Ewan and Champ looked at each other awkwardly. ‘The slayer and her little crew of misfits are really starting to become a thorn in my side!’  
Allenbach took a deep breath, ‘with respect ma’am… maybe they had a point?’  
Hardy’s eyes widened at his words, ‘what are you doing man?’ he said through his teeth.  
‘And what… exact point is that soldier?’ Lucado raged moving to stand right in front of him as if squaring up for a fight. ‘Tell me!’  
Allenbach swallowed apprehensively, ‘that if there was a person… if it was a werewolf with a person inside it that maybe it doesn’t deserve to be killed…’  
‘A werewolf is a demon,’ Lucado stated exasperated. ‘Killing demons is what we do. It was the brief I was given when we arrived here and it is the brief I believe in. Whether it is a person or not, it still killed people and that warrants it to be killed. We cannot have blurred lines. Blurred make things complicated whereas our brief is simple.’ She studied the soldier in front of her who could not make eye contact with the angry woman. ‘Any soldier who cannot respect that brief does not belong in my Initiative. Is that you Agent Allenbach or you Agent Hardy?’  
‘Absolutely not ma’am,’ Champ said quickly. ‘I am here to kill anything you command me to and I would have last night. I would have shot that werewolf right between the eyes as you have trained us to.’  
‘Coward,’ Ewan said in disgust under his breath.  
‘It’s what I believe,’ Champ protested. ‘I’m sick of yours and Dolls moral crap. If you disagree with this Initiative so much then you know where the door is.’  
Lucado looked at the soldier with a smirk, ‘you speak out of turn Agent Hardy…’ he looked back at her apologetically but she was not unimpressed. ‘But you speak well.’ She moved her eyes to Allenbach. ‘Do you disagree with the Initiative? Do you need to walk out of that door?’  
Ewan took a few moments. He adjusted his feet on the floor, hardened the grip of his hand around his wrist behind his back and cleared his throat. The fear of being thrown out of the only thing he had ever really known was greater than being compelled to do what is right. No ma’am, I will follow whatever command you give me.’  
‘You better, because I will not have any soldier jeopardise any of my details again.’ She returned to her desk and sat down looking more calm and collected. ‘Dolls will be made an example of… and so will any soldier who disobeys me in the future.’

Pulling a jumper over his head, Pete exited the cage followed by Jeremy. The two had woken up next to each completely bewildered. Only to turn round and see Wynonna on her tiptoes peering over a blanket threw across a cage. Jeremy had wondered whether it had been better waking up in public rather than being naked in front of all his friends. He was grateful when he had been provided with clothes to put on quickly.  
‘Thanks guys…’ Pete said completely unable to look at Jeremy. ‘I’m going to go…’  
‘Wait… Pete…’ Waverly started, but he had already run out of the library without looking back.  
‘You can hardly blame him,’ Wynonna said. She looked at Jeremy. ‘He’s lived the definition of a bad day.’  
‘I think I can compete,’ he said as he looked amongst his friends nervously. ‘So it’s true… I’m a…’  
‘It’s okay,’ Waverly interrupted stepping forward. She placed a hand on his arm. ‘We don’t care…’  
Jeremy smiled relieved but not able to relax, ‘really?’  
‘I’m involved with a vampire…’ Waverly told him. In the shadows holding her arm, Nicole smiled. ‘It would be a little hypocritical.’   
‘It’s easily managed,’ Nedley assured him stepping forward. He then realised he was still holding his rather intimidating tranquilizer gun. ‘This is a last resort,’ he said placing it down on the table next to him. ‘I mean, for three nights of the month, we simply need to lock you in the cage with someone on guard at all times… that way you can’t hurt anyone and no one else needs to find out.   
‘You would do that for me?’ Jeremy said not quite believing it.  
Waverly linked her arm into Jeremy’s holding it tight, ‘of course we would.’  
‘You’re one of us,’ Wynonna agreed. ‘In a funny way, this makes you even more one of us.’  
‘With a slayer, watcher, vampire, fire breathing demon and me evolving into a very skilled and amazing witch…’ Waverly added. ‘… you were the most normal left…’  
The words were strange, but Jeremy did find them comforting, ‘thanks guys.’  
Clearing his throat quietly, Dolls spoke up from where he stood a little apart from the group, ‘the Initiative will be onto him… they hate not getting a kill.’ This clearly dampened the spirits of the group as Wynonna looked at him exasperated. ‘But, I will do all I can to make sure they do not lay a finger on you.’  
‘Nice save,’ Wynonna groaned. Dolls wanted to smile, but his mind was clouded with the repercussions he knew were coming his way from his actions against the Initiative.  
‘I didn’t hurt any of you did I? When I was… um?’ Jeremy asked his mind racing.  
‘Well you did try to kill all of us…’ Wynonna replied. Waverly stepped forward and hit Wynonna hard on the arm. ‘But… clearly I can better a werewolf… so it’s all good.’  
‘Well I don’t know about you young people, but I need some proper sleep and we’ve got…’ he looked at his watched and widened his eyes. ‘About an hour before school starts…’ he looked thoroughly disappointed. ‘Will have to be one heck of a power nap; not that anyone ever comes into the library. You lot better do the same before you have to start school.’  
‘Start school?’ Wynonna cried. ‘Are you kidding me?’  
‘Shroud of normality Wynonna… shroud of normality,’ Nedley reminded her disappearing into his office and shutting the door.  
‘Oh god I hate that man sometimes,’ Wynonna grumbled.  
‘He’s right though,’ Waverly said carefully.  
‘I know… that’s why I hate him.’

In the hazy darkness only broken by one dim light, the human looked down at her vampire, ‘you going to be okay?’ Waverly asked as Nicole stood half in and half out of the hatch in the store room of the library.  
Nicole looked at the burn on her arm, ‘just a scratch,’ she smiled.   
Seeing that the slashes on Nicole’s cheek had all but faded gave Waverly heart that Nicole could soon be out of pain once again, ‘I don’t want to go to school,’ Waverly scowled. She moved closer to Nicole slipping her hands around the vampire’s neck. ‘Can’t I come home with you?’  
‘You know I could like nothing more,’ Nicole smiled placing a hand around Waverly’s leg craning her neck to look up and meet Waverly’s eyes. ‘I loved being asleep next to you.’  
‘Me too. Stupid school,’ Waverly sulked.  
Nicole chuckled, ‘it’s important Waves…’  
‘So are you.’  
Overcome by Waverly’s words, Nicole climbed back up a few steps so that she could take Waverly in her arms and bring their lips together in a passionate kiss. She ignored the stinging that the burn caused her as she wrapped her arms around Waverly’s waist to pull her in. All she wanted to do was feel the human’s body against her own. Waverly complied melting into the vampire as their lips caressed deliciously.  
After a few moments, they pulled apart a little breathless placing their foreheads together, ‘how am I going to be able to concentrate in lessons?’ Waverly asked.  
‘I’m sure you’ll find a way…’  
Waverly couldn’t think of any that would be successful, ‘when will I see you next?’  
‘As soon as the sun goes down,’ Nicole whispered.  
‘What if I can’t wait until then?’  
Nicole couldn’t help but bite her lip in delight at Waverly’s eagerness, ‘you know where to find me,’ she whispered. ‘Now you have to get to class…’ She pulled Waverly in for another kiss before she began to reluctantly make her way down the ladder into the shadows below. It was taking all of her strength to leave Waverly behind.   
‘Stupid class!’ Waverly muttered.  
‘You don’t mean that!’ came the call from below.   
A little shocked, Waverly shook her head as she laughed at Nicole’s comment. For a moment, she had forgotten Nicole’s hearing and how well the vampire knew her. It was true; she’d always enjoyed learning so she did love school really. It was just that currently, she loved spending time with Nicole so much more.

Making his way out into the morning sunshine, Jeremy found Pete sitting on the bleachers looking out onto an empty football field. It was clear the young man was in deep thought.  
‘Hey…’ Jeremy said carefully as she approached.  
Pete looked up a little surprised and stood at Jeremy’s arrival, ‘hi…’  
‘Look I need to ask you something…’ Jeremy shifted in his feet uncomfortably. ‘Wynonna… Wynonna said you knew…’ Pete tensed; he could tell where Jeremy was going with this. ‘She said you knew that you were a werewolf, when you bit me.’  
Pete’s eyes fell to the injury still visible on Jeremy’s hand, ‘it’s true.’  
To this, Jeremy looked deeply disappointed, ‘then why did you do it?’  
‘I panicked,’ Pete protested. ‘I was being attacked by five people… I just… look, you have no idea how guilty I feel about it. Along with the fact that I might have killed someone the other night.’  
Jeremy did feel sympathy for him, but his life had been changed completely by Pete’s actions. ‘I just wish you had told me… why didn’t you tell me after you bit me?’  
‘I hoped it wouldn’t happen,’ Pete replied.  
‘You ran scared,’ Jeremy stated a little angrily.  
‘No,’ Pete stressed. ‘That’s not it at all. If I’d known for sure that you were going to turn then I would have definitely come and told you. I think the wolf in me knew, it knew what was happening. That’s why my strength has been out of control and I’ve been able to escape the chains that normally hold me. The wolf sensed you. I just couldn’t make the connection…’  
‘You should have anyway Pete, if you had any tiny thought, however small,’ Jeremy continued. ‘I could have killed someone.’  
The hint of tears built in Pete’s eyes, ‘I’m so sorry…’  
Overwhelmed by his anger mixed with the bewilderment of his new situation, Jeremy simply shook his head at the boy in front of him, ‘it just needed a little bravery Pete… it’s a quality I look for in someone…’ Pete’s eyes widened at the admission. ‘Yes… there’s a chance I could have liked you back and this could have been… something… but you put so many people’s lives in danger because you couldn’t face up to what you had done.’ Jeremy’s chest stung with hurt as he spoke. ‘I’m not sure I can forgive that’  
‘Jeremy…’ Pete started but Jeremy had already started to walk away. Furious at himself, Pete covered his face with his hands and sat back down a lonely and distraught figure isolated on the bleachers.

Standing before the table of stony faced figures, Dolls stood to attention. All dressed in suits that showed their elevated positions within the Initiative, they studied him each wearing an expression of immense disapproval. Two women and two men, Lucado sat in the middle of them her hands clasped in front of her resting on the table.  
‘It’s this meeting’s findings Agent Dolls, that you are in severe breach of your position and duties,’ Lucado began. ‘You not only disobeyed me but you compromised the mission and everything that we are trying to achieve here.’ Dolls remained stoic and still as she spoke looking directly ahead not actually at any of the four people sitting in front of him directly. He couldn’t bear to see their expressions. ‘We cannot have any of our soldiers acting upon their feelings or what they think is their better judgement. There is simply too much at stake and the work we do is far too dangerous.’ She sighed and looked at the people either side of her. ‘Therefore, from today you are suspended… until further notice.’ Dolls swallowed, he knew it was coming but it was still hard to hear. He had worked his whole life towards being part of an operation like the Initiative. ‘You must hand over your ID and gun on your way out and you are not allowed to enter the premises until you are called to a hearing to discuss whether you can re-join our forces or whether you are to be discharged permanently.’  
‘May I say something?’ Dolls asked.  
‘No you may not solider,’ Lucado snapped. ‘Talking out of turn is just one indication of how far you have slipped. If you want any hope of returning to us, you need to have a serious look at what is expected of you here.’ She stared at him thoroughly disgusted. ‘You are dismissed.’   
Dolls had to force himself to do so, but he brought his hand up to his forehead to salute. He then bowed to show his respect and turned to march out of the room. His face creased with sheer heartbreak at the situation he had placed himself in. As he walked out of the door, he cursed every single feeling he felt for the slayer. He had been a hardened man, a true solider of Initiative until he had met her.

‘Do you think Jeremy will be okay?’ Waverly asked as they walked through the hospital corridors. They had just about made it through the school day and decided together that they wanted to catch up with how Doc was getting on. There was only one place Waverly wanted to be, but she decided this time she would leave Nicole to sleep undisturbed.  
‘It’s going to take time,’ Wynonna said as they turned the corner into Doc’s ward. ‘He’ll need lots of our support.’  
‘Well he’s got the right friends,’ Waverly smiled as they approached Doc’s bed but were very surprised to see it empty with no trace of Doc at all.   
‘What the…?’ Wynonna started having seen Doc in that very bed shouting at the TV a few days before.  
‘Are you looking for Mr Holliday?’ came a nurses voice behind.  
‘Yes,’ Wynonna replied. ‘Is he okay?’  
‘He’s more than okay,’ the nurse beamed. ‘He was discharged only a few hours ago.’  
‘Discharged?’ Waverly asked confused.  
The nurse checked her chart just to confirm what she was telling them, ‘his test results came back… he’s made a full recovery. Once he knew that, he couldn’t wait to get out of here. He could hardly believe it.’  
‘I bet he couldn’t,’ Wynonna gasped. She looked at Waverly astonished. The nurse allowed herself to enjoy their happy faces for a little longer before having to continue with her duties.  
‘That’s amazing…’ Waverly grinned. ‘Means it all wasn’t for nothing…’  
‘Absolutely,’ Wynonna agreed as they began to make their way back out of the ward.  
‘Do you think we could find a way to make someone who’s a vampire human again?’ Waverly wondered.  
Wynonna threw her head back and laughed, ‘one thing at a time Waves,’ she threw her arm around her friend as they made their way out of the hospital. ‘One thing at a time.’


	13. Killed By Death

With only the stars to witness, Waverly smiled into the kiss as she leaned forward to meet Nicole’s lips. She was used to their cool feel against her own and now just enjoyed the sensation taking it in with every touch. Bending her arm around Waverly’s waist, the vampire pulled her closer wanting to feel more of the human against her own body. Unhappy with the distance between them as well, Waverly made her way to edge of her car seat and wrapped her arms around Nicole’s neck. She loved the feel of Nicole’s silky hair against them. She relaxed her arms a little so that her hands could feel the strands fall between her fingers. Only with sound not breath, Nicole gave a little sigh into Waverly’s mouth which brought a little more want into their kisses.  
Still unhappy with the distance between them, Waverly made a bold move which even surprised herself. She left her seat and threw her leg over Nicole so that she was now straddling the shocked vampire’s lap. Eyes wide, Nicole leaned back looking up at her. ‘Wow,’ she gasped her hands resting on Waverly’s thighs.  
‘I know,’ Waverly blinked. ‘Not sure what happened there…’   
Nicole laughed and brought their mouths together again. Smoothly, she reached down beside her to lower the seat behind her. Waverly moved with her not wanting to break their kiss as she cupped the red head’s face adoringly. Nicole allowed her hands to find Waverly’s back again and to slip underneath the human’s top.   
Waverly exhaled to the feel which caused Nicole to move her hands away, ‘you okay?’  
‘Yeah… it’s just… cold…’ Waverly said. Nicole looked worried but Waverly smiled. She reached behind her and guided Nicole’s hands back to where they were. This time she made no reaction to the feel of the cold hands against her skin. ‘I’ll get used to it.’ Their lips met again passionately as Waverly pressed her body down into Nicole’s. One hand returned to Nicole’s face but the other found the edge of Nicole’s top at the vampire’s jeans. Slowly, she slipped her fingers underneath the material so she could feel the skin beneath. Instead of being distracted by its cool feel, Waverly enjoyed its toned feel and the softness of the skin. Before she knew it, her whole hand had disappeared so her palm was spread out over the vampire’s abs.  
Waverly pulled away giggling, Nicole studied her trying to read into it, ‘sorry… I just um…’ she tried to gather her thoughts. She looked up into Nicole’s eyes, ‘are we dating?’  
‘Explain dating…’ Nicole asked back. ‘I’ve worked out that a date means you go out for food or a drink, but I get the impression dating is a different concept?’  
‘Dating is like… going steady,’ Waverly explained but the vampire still looked blank. ‘Going out?’ Still nothing. She realised she would have to bring out the big guns. ‘It means we’re in a relationship…’ To this Nicole smiled. Waverly was beginning to feel a bit giddy at the idea, ‘it means…’ she took her hand out from under Nicole’s top and traced her finger around the simple silver necklace Nicole wore. Nicole could tell Waverly was nervous. ‘It means you’re my girlfriend.’  
‘Your girlfriend?’ Nicole knew what it meant she just wanted to check that she had heard it right.  
‘Do you want to be my girlfriend?’ Waverly asked timidly.  
Beaming, Nicole wrapped her arms Waverly and skilfully swapped their places so that she was now looking down on Waverly who gazed up still eagerly waiting for the answer, ‘of course I do.’ The two let the moment hold between them before Nicole let her body lower onto Waverly’s and their lips began to explore each other’s again. Neither of them could stop smiling into their kisses. Nicole might have been over two hundred years old but when it comes to love, anyone can become a giddy teenager.

Stumbling forward, the forest around her spun horribly causing Wynonna to put her hand to her head and take a moment to regain her balance. She was very grateful that she was not in some fight to the death as the nausea flooded into her body. The slayer took a few deep breaths to try and get rid of the feeling and did have some success. Everything around her stopped spinning, but the nausea and unpleasant fever she could feel on her skin didn’t seem to be lessening.   
‘Oh man do I need to go home…’ Wynonna concluded.  
She was about to turn around when she heard a very unwelcome growling voice, ‘not looking good there slayer,’ she looked up at the approaching vampire with a real sense of dread. ‘Maybe this is my lucky day,’ he grinned flexing his arms and cracking his knuckles. ‘The day I bag me a slayer.’  
‘Don’t speak too soon…’ Wynonna tried to say intimidatingly.   
He came at her and she was able to just about deflect his attack sending him into a tree but it took everything out of her. Angry at his clumsy start to the fight, the vampire jumped to his feet with a snarl. He had been able to recover a lot quicker than she had. Whilst the ground lurched for Wynonna it was perfectly steady for the vampire. He came at her from behind wrapping his strong arm around her neck. Wynonna tried desperately to flick him over her shoulder which would usually be so easy but this evening her strength was failing her.   
‘You’re mine slayer,’ he laughed bearing his teeth at her exposed neck. However, just as he was about to connect with her flesh the sound of gun rang out through the neck air. The vampire howled in pain as the shot hit his shoulder. He let go of Wynonna causing them both to fall to the floor. Looking up, Wynonna saw a dark shape move past her towards the vampire. She was just about able to make her eyes focus to see Dolls, now dressed in civilian clothing, take on the injured demon. Using the wound he had inflicted, he distracted the vampire long enough to produce a stake and drive it into the vampires heart. He waited for the vampire to become dust before he turned back to Wynonna.  
‘Wynonna’ he wrapped his arms around her and helped her to her feet, but she was very weak. ‘We have to get you to Nedley…’ Wynonna nodded until she became completely weak and passed out in his arms. ‘Oh Jesus… forget Nedley,’ he steadied himself so that he could pick her up. ‘I’m getting you to a hospital.’

With an expression of desperate concern, Alice turned the corner in the hospital to see quite a crowd was already gathered in Wynonna’s room. With the slayer sleeping peacefully, the people around were silent as they looked down on her. At Alice’s entrance they turned to face her.  
‘Is she okay?’ Alice asked moving to her daughter’s bedside.  
‘It’s flu…’ Nedley explained moving forward clutching his plastic cup of coffee. ‘A really nasty strain, it has her completely knocked out.’  
‘What did the doctors say?’ she continued as she stroked Wynonna’s face.  
‘They’ve got her on antibiotics and will keep her in for the next few days. She’s in good hands.’  
Alice nodded taking in the words as she gazed down at the vulnerable looking girl in the bed, ‘thank you.’  
‘Of course,’ Nedley replied. With a wave of his head towards the door, Nedley gestured at Jeremy, Waverly and Nicole that they should give Alice some time alone with Wynonna. They instantly got to their feet in agreement and made their way out into the corridor where Nedley waited.  
‘I don’t understand,’ Waverly frowned. ‘The slayer doesn’t get sick…’  
Nedley agreed and looked just as bewildered, ‘it can happen, but not something like flu. It could be that she was weakened to illnesses after Greta’s spell…’ He looked thoughtful as if searching for the answer. ‘I’ll have to look into it.’  
‘Want some help?’ Jeremy asked.  
Nedley smiled at the young man, ‘good to have you back Jeremy,’ he said patting him on the shoulder. Waverly and Nicole watched them go as they began to discuss all the things they would need to research when they got back to the library.  
Once they were out of sight, Waverly looked up at Nicole, ‘this could be a spell…’  
‘Your area of expertise then,’ Nicole smiled.  
‘I need to get to my books,’ she looked past Nicole to where Alice was now sitting down and holding her daughter’s hand. The woman looked tired as it was the early hours of the morning but something told Waverly the slayer’s mother was not intending on getting any sleep. ‘She’s vulnerable like this… can you watch over them?’  
‘Of course.’  
‘Thank you,’ she stood on her toes so that she could thank her girlfriend with a kiss. Nicole welcomed it before reluctantly letting Waverly slip from her fingers and disappear down the corridor in the same direction as Nedley and Jeremy before her.

Nicole recoiled as she sipped the hospital’s excuse for coffee. Although she had only just bought it, Nicole looked around for a bin. Now joined by Dolls, he aided her by providing one. Thankfully, she dropped the cup in happy to see it go. Dolls replaced the bin from where he got it as they both sat in silence looking into the slayer’s room where Alice still watched over her daughter.  
A burning question however caused Nicole to speak, ‘you love her don’t you?’  
‘Love is a strong word…’ Dolls began looking down at his fingers.  
Nicole studied him, ‘but I’m not wrong?’  
With a smile tinged with a little sadness, ‘no… you’re not wrong.’ He looked back at the slayer who was still sleeping soundly whilst attached to a drip. ‘Love is costly.’ Nicole nodded with a knowing look. ‘And I don’t think she feels the same.’  
‘Have you asked her?’ Nicole suggested.  
‘Oh no,’ Dolls said looking mortified at the idea. ‘That’s way too scary.’  
‘Why?’  
‘What if she says no?’ Nicole had no argument to this. ‘You have it easy.’  
Nicole frowned, ‘why’s that?’  
‘It’s pretty obvious how Waverly feels,’ he laughed gently. ‘She’s the definition of a lovesick teenager…’  
The sound of the word caused Nicole to feel a little excited, but she controlled it quickly, ‘love is a strong word…’  
‘But I’m not wrong…’ Dolls said with a little smirk.  
Nicole could see what he was doing and was amused by it, ‘I hope you’re not wrong,’ she stated. She went to say more but something caught her attention down the corridor. ‘Doc?’  
The man looked a little out of breath as he reached them, ‘Wynonna’s sick?’ he asked.  
‘How do you know?’  
‘Waverly contacted me on this wireless telephoney…’ he got it out of his pocket and held it up.  
‘Cell phone mate… it’s called a cell phone,’ Dolls chuckled.  
‘Cell?… phone?’ Doc repeated. ‘You have some strange names for things in this century.’ He shook it off and replaced it back in his pocket as he peered into the room where Wynonna lay. ‘What’s wrong with her?’  
‘Flu the doctors think,’ Nicole told him. ‘Doctors are still running tests to make sure.’  
‘Damn doctors and they’re damn tests,’ Doc muttered. ‘Well anyway… I can keep watch over her now if you two want to return to more enjoyable pleasures.’  
‘I’m more than happy here thanks,’ Dolls shrugged not moving.  
‘I am more than capable of watching over the young lady…’ Doc argued a little insulted.  
Next to him Nicole got to her feet but Dolls continued, ‘you are a human man who only has a gun as his fighting skill… I think I’ll stay…’  
‘Only a gun!’ Doc exclaimed. He then realised that his voice was a little loud for the time of night in a hospital. ‘I am more than a man with just a gun…’  
‘Hey boys…’ Nicole cut in. ‘I’m going to go…’  
Neither of them either noticed or heard her, ‘if you lose that gun… where would you be?’  
‘I never lose my gun…’ Doc gasped just at the thought of it.  
‘What if I take it?’ Dolls suggested.  
Doc’s eyes widened, ‘I would cut your hand off before you could even think about it…’  
‘Hey, how about you both stay?’ Nicole tried as the two men glared at each other. ‘Just an idea…’ as neither of the men’s expressions changed she could see she was of no use. With a roll of the eyes, she turned and made her way down the corridor. ‘Men.’

Sleepily, her eyes opened. For a moment the room remained blurry and out of focus, but after a few quick blinks Wynonna was able to bring her eyes to focus. As her vision found her mum, now asleep in the chair by her daughter’s bed, Wynonna brought her hand up to her head which was still pounding unbearably. However, she didn’t have long to think about her pain as something moving past the door caught her eye.  
When the feet appeared in the doorway, Wynonna presumed it was another doctor checking in on her but as her eyes travelled up the black trousers and black jacket she found she was definitely not looking at a human. The peach skin was crinkled and ragged and most alarmingly large teeth protruded out of the bottom jaw out of the mouth and over the top lip. Each must have been at least four or five inches long. The eyes were pure white with deep red rings around them, each piercing into her from underneath the black hat the creature wore on its head. It snarled a smile, tipped the hat and slowly moved on down the corridor.  
Compelled by her duty, Wynonna felt that despite how horrendous she was feeling, she would have to follow what she had just seen. She creased up her face as she carefully pulled the covers aside to swing her legs out of the bed. They felt strange, like they weren’t her own but she tried to own them. Using the stand holding her drip, Wynonna began to make her way out of the room. Her movement was laboured as she used the drip stand for all the support it could give her. Looking down the corridor in the direction in which the creature had gone, Wynonna spotted it at the end of the hall turning left.  
Looking ahead of her, Wynonna could make out the shapes of Dolls and Doc asleep in the seats opposite her room. She wanted to be amused that they had both fallen asleep when she guessed they should have been watching over her, but her weak body needed all its energy to concentrate on one thing. She took a deep breath to try and find some strength and began to place one foot in front of the other.  
As Wynonna reached where the creature had turned, she looked up at the ceiling to see that it was heading towards the children’s ward. This spurred Wynonna on as she trudged forward trying to hide her coughing and keep as silent as possible. The creature walked slowly and deliberately, it was as if he knew that the slayer was behind him. When he reached the children’s ward door, he showed that he did. He glanced back over his shoulder, laughing wickedly. He tipped his hat again at the slayer then moved through the doors like a ghost, not needing to open them. Wynonna desperately wanted to follow, but as she moved to take another step her legs gave way, the corridor spun and she was out before her body even hit the floor.

Wearing a face of fury, Waverly hit both men on the arm as hard as she could. She was impressed with herself that both of them recoiled and held their arms in pain.  
‘You were supposed to be watching her!’ Waverly cried pointing her finger angrily at both of them. Still holding their arms, Dolls and Doc dropped their eyes ashamed. ‘What if something had happened huh?’  
‘Well thankfully it didn’t,’ Nedley said as he entered the hospital room taking Waverly with him. ‘But I think maybe your vampire might be more trustworthy Waverly.’  
‘She was happy to stay all night,’ Waverly agreed. She looked back at the men with pursed lips. ‘If anything had happened to her Nedley… they were supposed to be watching her and they fell asleep!’  
‘I know,’ Nedley nodded placing a hand on her shoulder as they reached Wynonna’s bedside. ‘But she’s fine… I’d just like to know what she was doing out of bed.’  
‘Exactly what I’d like to know,’ Alice approved as she rose from the seat by the slayer’s bedside. Wynonna was once again soundly asleep. ‘They found her in the middle of the corridor. The nurses think she might have sleep walked?’  
‘Is it something she’s ever done before?’ Nedley asked.  
Alice thought for a moment, ‘no… not that I can recall.’  
Looking down into his tea, Nedley had to think through his answers carefully as he was aware that Alice had no knowledge of exactly who her daughter was, ‘being unwell can have a great effect on the mind. Wynonna might have thought she was awake or…’ He noticed Wynonna’s eyes fluttering as she began to wake up. ‘We could ask her…’  
Relieved, Waverly stepped forward and took the slayer’s hand, ‘she’s waking up.’  
‘Hey sweetie,’ Alice smiled stroking Wynonna’s face as the sick girl slowly opened her eyes.   
She took a while to take in all the faces looking at her, ‘hey…’ when she realised her hand was being held by Waverly she squeezed it in recognition.  
‘How are you feeling darling?’ Alice asked.  
‘A bit better,’ Wynonna replied. Her head was still pounding, she wondered if it was ever going to stop. ‘I had a really strange dream…’  
Waverly and Nedley exchanged a glance, ‘you were found unconscious in the middle of the hallway last night,’ Nedley told her. Wynonna looked shocked. ‘Do you have any recollection of how you got there?’  
She did. What she thought was a dream must have been what had really happened, but she knew that she couldn’t explain it in front of her mother. ‘Mum, I’m really thirsty… can you see if you can get me some water?’  
‘Of course honey,’ she leant forward and placed a kiss on Wynonna’s forward before moving past Nedley and Waverly out of the door.  
‘Pen and paper,’ Wynonna whispered. They both looked lost. ‘Have you paper and a pen?’  
‘Oh,’ Nedley caught on. He looked at Waverly who had her school bag on. Waverly was already fumbling about inside. She pulled out her pad and a pen and handed it to Wynonna.  
‘I saw this,’ Wynonna explained as she began to draw. She checked over their shoulders through the door to see if her mum was coming back. ‘I followed it down the corridor; it went into the children’s ward. It walked through the walls like a ghost and that must have been when I passed out.’ When she had finished scribbling she handed the pad back to Waverly. Both Nedley and Waverly looked at the creature taken back. ‘You guys okay to get on this?’  
‘Of course,’ Nedley nodded. ‘We’re also still looking into why you’re sick at all…’  
At the sound of Wynonna’s mother entering the room, Waverly hastily closed the pad and put it back in her bag, ‘of course… we’ll make sure you’re all caught up on any work you miss…’  
‘Is that my daughter? Asking you to get her any work from school?’ Alice chuckled handing Wynonna the cup. She put her hand to the slayer’s forehead. ‘You really must be feeling ill.’  
Nedley and Waverly also laughed, ‘we will leave you to get some more rest,’ Nedley said making his way out of the room with Waverly in tow.  
Alice watched them go, ‘who is that man?’ she asked. ‘I know Waverly but I don’t know him…’  
‘Oh um… he’s the librarian from school…’ her mind wasn’t working as quickly as she wanted it to.  
‘Librarian?’ Alice went on puzzled. ‘Why is he visiting you?’  
‘I guess he’s just come from the school to check to see if I’m okay… not many kids use the library so I guess he was free…’  
‘Oh okay,’ Alice shrugged accepting it. ‘That’s very nice of the school to do that…’  
‘Yeah…’ Wynonna agreed breathing a hidden sigh of relief. ‘I know.’ Instead of what she had told her Mum, Wynonna was thinking of all the support she had around her. Waking up to see Waverly, Nedley and her mother’s faces after the strange encounter she had had the night before had been a welcome sight.

‘How’s she doing?’ Jeremy asked as Waverly and Nedley entered the library.  
‘Well… either she has a new side effect of delusions or there’s a demon in the hospital,’ Waverly replied digging the piece of paper out of her bag.  
‘There’s a demon in the hospital?’ Jeremy repeated checking he had heard it right. Nedley and Waverly just sent him an uncomfortable look. ‘Oh man, is nowhere safe?’  
‘We do live on a Hellmouth,’ Nedley reminded him going into his office to start selecting books.  
Waverly unfolded the piece of paper and handed it to him, ‘this is what she thinks she saw.’  
‘Oh lovely!’ he exclaimed causing Waverly to look at him bemused. ‘It’s a cute drawing… not the demon… the demon is mean and terrible looking.’  
‘It went into the children’s ward,’ Waverly added.  
‘Yeah, that’s not lovely at all.’  
Reappearing from his office, Nedley returned his arms laden with books, ‘whatever your plans this evening, cancel them… we’re in research mode kids.’  
‘I figured as much…’ Jeremy agreed. ‘I’ll fire up the old laptop.’ He handed the drawing back to Waverly and took his usual place at the middle table with his laptop before him.  
‘Book me,’ Waverly sighed taking her seat. With a smile, relieved that someone remembered the old ways, Nedley handed her the first of many books.   
‘Tea anyone?’ Nedley asked.  
‘No, coffee my man,’ Jeremy corrected. ‘Coffee is the only drink that goes with studying.’  
‘Coffee it is then,’ Nedley concluded returning to his office.  
‘Do you have any cookies?’ Waverly asked hopefully.  
‘Cookies?’ Nedley popped his head back out of his office door. ‘What do you think this is? A coffee shop?’  
‘Well do you?’  
Nedley paused, ‘I might… ‘  
‘Good man,’ Jeremy grinned.

With an exasperated sigh, Waverly closed another book having gone from cover to cover with no luck in finding anything that looked like the demon or creature that Wynonna had drawn. She was about to pick up another when she heard a footstep behind her in the back gallery of the library. She looked over at Jeremy, but he hadn’t heard it as he was listening to music as he researched. Waverly shrugged and slumped back into her chair assuming she was hearing things until only a few seconds later she heard it again.  
Making her way up the steps carefully, Waverly held onto the short railing tightly. She moved her heard to see if she could peer around the bookshelves to catch what could be lurking there but unfortunately she could not see far enough. She glanced back at Jeremy whose head was still bobbing along to the beat of his music. She knew she should tell him what she was doing, but something was stopping her from doing so. Moving forward she passed one of the bookshelves and saw nothing. Taking another deep breath, she stepped forward to pass the next and to her surprise an arm in leather jacket reached out and grabbed her.  
‘Hey, evil thing… I am multi-skilled in killing demon things!’ Waverly cried out hitting the arm as hard as she could.  
‘Waverly!’ At the sound of Nicole’s voice, the human stopped hitting her immediately.  
Waverly’s face became a mixture of a surprise and delight, ‘Nicole… what are you doing here?’  
‘Just checking in,’ Nicole told her. She tipped her head flirtatiously. ‘Aren’t you going to say hello?’ Waverly refrained from rolling her eyes as she absolutely wanted to say hello. She fell into Nicole’s arms so she could greet her properly with a kiss. ‘I’m guessing you guys are in research mode?’  
‘How do you know?’ Waverly frowned.  
‘I went to the hospital before I came here… Wynonna told me,’ Nicole replied.  
Waverly gazed at her amazed, ‘you checked in on Wynonna?’  
‘Of course,’ Nicole smiled. She put her hands around Waverly’s waist and pulled her in. ‘Now, how long can you have a break from researching?’  
Waverly leaned back through the gaps in the bookshelves and saw that Jeremy hadn’t moved and that Nedley was probably still in his office, ‘until one of them shouts something like eureka as at the moment we’re finding zilch.’  
‘I have some books back at my place, I could have a look too.’  
Reaching up, Waverly hooked her hand around Nicole’s neck to close the gap between them, ‘you’re not allowed to go yet though…’  
‘I wasn’t planning to,’ Nicole beamed before their lips came together again.   
At first the kisses were soft and gentle until both craved more. Finding the collar, Waverly began to pull Nicole’s leather jacket off her shoulders until it had fallen onto the floor without a sound. Once it had gone, Nicole pushed Waverly back into the end of the bookshelf. With something to take the weight, the vampire pushed her body into the human’s as their kisses became more heated. How either of them would be able to break away to do any research after this was yet to be seen.

As if an alarm was going off in her head, Wynonna sat up straining against the pain above her left eye. She put her palm to the spot where the pain seemed to be originating but it didn’t help. She stretched to reach the call button knowing she would not be able to go back to sleep in her current state. But as she went to do so, it was there again. Cackling quietly, he brought his hands up in front of him causing each finger to meet at the tips in a menacingly manner. With one hand, he tipped his hat again and walked away down the corridor. It was mocking her; it knew that Wynonna was too weak to fight. However, Wynonna was going to try and prove him otherwise.  
Ignoring the splintering pain in her head, Wynonna grabbed her drip stand and used it to steady her again as she trudged down the hospital hallway after the demon. Just as it had before, it turned towards the children’s ward. This time, Wynonna did not collapse after she watched it walk through the doors without opening them again. She however did not have that skill, so slowly opened one of the doors and peered inside.  
The demon walked slowly down the middle of the children’s beds. It seemed to be deliberating something as it stopped at the end of each one. Holding its hand out, each with horribly long finger snails, it contemplated each child. Wynonna watched continuing to balance herself on the stand and with the help of the door. Finally, the creature came to a stop at the end of a little girl’s bed, who could not have been more than seven. Unnervingly, it turned its head and stared straight at Wynonna. It laughed under its breath before looking back at the child and snatching it up.  
‘No!’ Wynonna cried. She stumbled forward into the ward and fell to the floor. ‘Don’t take her!’ Looking up from where she lay, the creature had the screaming girl in its arms. Again, it simply laughed at Wynonna before melting through another wall and out of sight taking the little girl with it. ‘No!’  
‘Ma’am…’ behind Wynonna a startled nurse ran into the ward. ‘Are you okay? What are you doing in here?’  
With great strain, Wynonna was able to get herself to her feet again, ‘he took her… he… took… her…’  
‘Took who?’ The nurse asked trying to understand.  
However, faintness struck the slayer again, ‘he…’ she couldn’t finish. Extending an arm out, she tried to stay standing by grabbing the nurse’s shoulder but her legs gave up and she began to fall. Luckily, the nurse reacted and caught her.   
‘Can I have some help in here please!?’ she screamed her legs buckling under Wynonna’s weight.

‘What do you mean it took a child?’ Nedley asked horrified.  
‘I mean just that Nedley… it took a child,’ Wynonna explained as she lay back in her bed.  
‘From where? The children’s ward?’  
There were tears in Wynonna’s eyes, ‘snatched it right from her bed…’ Nedley took her hand. ‘She can’t have been more than six or seven. She looked so scared and I couldn’t…’ she stopped speaking and brought her fingers to her eyes trying to forget the memory.  
‘Hey, it’s not your fault… you’re sick…’  
‘But why Nedley?’ Wynonna demanded still crying. ‘I’m not supposed to get sick! I should have been able to save that little girl.’  
As Nedley tried to soothe his slayer by holding her hand tightly, Doc and Dolls appeared in the doorway. It was clear that they had jostled for who would be able to walk in first, but upon seeing Wynonna’s tears their quarrel was quickly forgotten.  
‘What’s wrong?’ Dolls asked.  
‘The creature took a child,’ Nedley told them. ‘Right in front of Wynonna.’  
Anger filled Doc’s face, ‘is nothing safe from the touch of evil?’  
‘Children should be,’ Dolls agreed.   
‘Where did you see this devilry happen?’ Doc asked walking over to Wynonna’s bedside.  
Wynonna gathered herself and wiped her eyes, ‘the children’s ward… he snatched her from her bed and disappeared through the back wall.’  
‘Then that’s where we begin,’ Doc said turning to Dolls who nodded in agreement.  
‘Be careful,’ Nedley warned. ‘We have absolutely no idea what this thing is.’  
Doc took his gun out of his pocket and flicked the barrel open to check it was full of bullets, ‘this thing takes children… I don’t care what it is… it’s dead.’ He pushed the barrel back into place. Holding his gun up, with a determined expression, he spun and walked out of the door with Dolls in tow.

Guns held out in front of them, Doc and Dolls approached the children’s ward. It was still the early hours of the morning so thankfully the corridors were deserted and quiet. They both took their positions either side of the door, then with a decided look Dolls carefully pushed the door open and thrust his gun inside before following after it checking to see if the creature still lingered within the room.  
As Doc followed behind, to their astonishment all the children were sitting up in their beds. Some looked terrified, others looked calm and in a state of shock. Keeping their guns drawn, Doc and Dolls held their hands up to show the children they meant them no harm as they continued to survey the room.  
‘Are you here for the bad man?’ a little boy asked at the end of the room.  
Being the closest, Dolls made his way over and knelt down by his bed, ‘have you seen the bad man?’  
The little boy nodded, ‘he comes every night…’   
The boy seemed strangely calm as Dolls studied him. He was deathly pale; Dolls guessed he was in a state of shock. ‘Do you know where he went?’ Without another word the boy pointed to the wall behind the ex-soldier. Dolls stood up and looked at it.  
‘Well now there’s a problem…’ Doc grumbled as they both looked at the solid wall. There were no cracks, no blemishes, no indications that there was a secret door. The creature would have had to pass straight through it like a ghost to make an exit that way.  
‘There must be a way round… come on!’ bringing his gun up again, Dolls made his way out of the children’s ward and down the corridor. As he hoped there was another door next to the one leading to the children’s ward wearing the sign store room. With a glance at Doc, Dolls opened it carefully with his gun in front of him before walking hesitantly inside.  
‘Tell me, you really are a good shot right?’  
‘The best,’ Doc reassured him.  
They were no more than a few steps inside the store room where Dolls was sent flying backwards. Bewildered, Doc looked into the room to see absolutely nothing. Before he could close his finger around the trigger, something invisible connected with his face cutting slashes in his face. Screaming out in pain, he joined Dolls on the floor. As they lay there looking up into the empty room they could hear the distant sound of laughter. Angry, Dolls got to his feet and tried to look for any clue, anything he could see that he could fight. He looked too long. With the sound of metal hacking through the air, the blades slashed across his chest. The sharp ends sliced through his jumper and his skin. He cried out in agony and fell to the floor.  
‘We cannot win this!’ Doc cried. He grabbed Dolls by the arm and pulled him out of the room. Making sure to collect their guns, they closed the store room door and staggered away down the corridor.

Using bandages that they had swiped from a resources room just down the hallway from Wynonna’s room, Doc and Dolls patched themselves up with the help of Nedley.  
‘It was invisible?’ Nedley inquired.  
‘Couldn’t see a damn thing…’ he winced as Nedley wiped some of the blood off his chest.  
‘It was like we were fighting a ghost,’ Doc added as he held a cloth to his face.  
‘Do you think it was the demon?’ Wynonna asked from her bed.  
‘Couldn’t tell you,’ Dolls replied. ‘There was nothing there to see.’  
‘So we might have two things here in the hospital,’ Wynonna groaned. ‘Wonderful.’  
‘Don’t worry, we’ll stay here… protect you.’ Dolls tried to reassure her.  
Nedley raised his eye brows, ‘no offence gentlemen but if you can’t see the assailant, how will you protect Wynonna? Though the gesture is duly noted.’ He placed a pad across the worst of Doc’s cuts ad began to tape it in place.  
‘We will just have to try,’ Doc replied a little sourly.  
‘I think it is the same thing,’ Wynonna said thoughtfully. ‘The creature I saw had nasty long nails that were in serious need of a manicure when I saw it. They were seriously sharp…’  
Dolls looked down at his wounds, the three slashes were the right distance apart to be made from fingernails, ‘but why can you see him but Doc and I couldn’t?’  
‘I have no idea…’  
‘The children could see them,’ Doc added. ‘That little boy had seen where the creature took the little girl…’  
‘Maybe it’s age?’ Nedley suggested. ‘Wynonna is technically a child until she is eighteen.’  
‘Yeah, thanks for that Neddles,’ Wynonna spat playfully.  
‘Just stating the facts,’ Nedley shrugged.  
‘Well the facts are that we don’t know any facts,’ Doc argued. ‘Let’s hope that Waverly and Jeremy turn up something soon.’

‘I should be researching,’ Waverly whispered as she lay in Nicole’s arms.  
Propped up against the bookshelf behind them, Nicole held her close as Waverly’s head rested on her chest, ‘I’m not stopping you…’ she chuckled.  
‘I know…’ Waverly admitted. She titled her head up so they could kiss briefly.  
As Waverly replaced her head back on Nicole’s chest, Nicole tenderly kissed her head, ‘so, how you finding this?’  
‘Finding what?’ her finger traced the pattern of the stitching in Nicole’s black top.  
‘This… you and me…’  
At this thought, Waverly looked a little dreamy, ‘good… it’s good.’  
‘No regrets?’  
Waverly thought for a moment, which worried Nicole. ‘I thought there would be… but no.’  
‘What do you mean you thought there would be?’  
‘Well…’ she shifted her position so she could look up at Nicole. ‘This is more than me realising I like girls… if that’s not scary enough, there’s the fact that you’re a…’  
‘Does it still bother you? That I’m a…’ Nicole cut in her face falling a little.  
‘No…’ Waverly smiled. ‘Not anymore…’ she looked at Nicole’s chest and placed her hand over where Nicole’s heart would have been beating. ‘I know it’s not alive, but you have a good heart Nicole… and that’s what matters.’  
‘Well technically it’s my soul… but… I know what you mean.’ Their eyes met for a serene moment. ‘And what about the girl thing? For anyone, it’s confusing.’  
‘I spend my days reading about magic, researching monsters, patrolling with a slayer, fighting demons and my girlfriend is a vampire… if you’re going to see what’s weird in my life, dating a girl sounds like the most normal,’ Waverly pointed out.   
Nicole’s face had suddenly turned serious.  
‘What?’ Waverly asked worried.  
A smile returned to the vampire’s face, ‘you said girlfriend…’ Waverly now looked a little embarrassed. Nicole stroked her face affectionately to soothe her. ‘Sounds good…’ They both smiled before their lips found each other again. Once again, instead of researching as she was supposed to be, Waverly lost herself completely in Nicole’s arms.

Opening her eyes, Wynonna was relieved to finally welcome in a new day without a pounding headache. She closed her eyes and opened them again wondering if it was really true. When she sat up, the room no longer spun and she was able to see clearly. Looking ahead of her, she chuckled silently at the sight of the three men on the chairs at the end of her bed; Doc with his bandaged cheek just apparent underneath the rim of his hat, Dolls with his slashed and bloodied top and Nedley with his glasses nearly falling off the end of his nose.  
‘Three of the strangest guardian angels I’ve ever seen,’ Wynonna laughed to herself. She looked across to the bedside table and picked up her phone. She looked for Waverly’s name in her contacts and dialled the number.  
Squinting into the sunshine, Waverly sat up from her sleep on the carpeted floor of the library between the bookshelves. First she noticed that Nicole was gone which understandable with the amount of sunlight streaming in through the windows, then she heard the sound of her phone ringing. She scrabbled about until she realised it was in her pocket.  
‘Hello?’ It was then that she saw a little note on the floor amongst the books around her. ‘Oh hi Wynonna, how are you feeling?’ She opened it with one hand and read the words See you tonight sleepy head.  
‘So much better,’ Wynonna replied. ‘Doesn’t feel like someone is hammering inside my head.’  
‘That’s good, any more sightings of our nasty beasty?’ she used the bookshelves to help herself to her feet. Her legs were stiff from the position she had been asleep in.  
‘Yes…’ Wynonna forgot how much better she was feeling and remembered what she had seen. ‘Waverly… it took a child.’  
Waverly stopped walking at the top of the steps down to the main area of the library, ‘it took a child?’  
‘From the children’s ward, I followed it there… but there was nothing I could do.’  
Waverly could hear the emotion in the slayer’s voice, ‘I’m sure, Wynonna you always do everything you can, plus you’re sick. You cannot blame yourself.’ She walked over to Jeremy and shook him awake. He jumped a little startled.  
‘I know,’ she was convinced but wanted to believe her friend. ‘Also, it attacked Doc and Dolls…’  
Jeremy was able to listen in now as Waverly had put Wynonna on speaker phone, ‘it attacked Doc and Dolls?’ he asked.  
‘Oh hi Jeremy… they came off pretty bad and the weirdest thing, they couldn’t see it.’  
Jeremy and Waverly looked at each other puzzled, ‘they couldn’t see it?’  
‘No, it was invisible… but not to me…’ Wynonna went on. ‘Have you guys found anything?’  
Shaking their heads the pair sighed, ‘sorry… nothing. We’ll keep looking though…’ Waverly assured her.  
‘Let me know if you find anything, children are at risk now,’ Wynonna urged. ‘Because I’m feeling better they’ll probably want to discharge me but I’m going to fake feeling really unwell. I have to stay here until this thing has been stopped.’  
‘Good plan,’ Waverly agreed. ‘Be careful.’  
‘Of course,’ Wynonna said before hanging up.  
Once the phone beeped off, Jeremy shook himself more awake and turned back to his laptop. There was more urgency in what they need to do. Children being affected changed the entire situation.

That night, Wynonna knew she was more ready. She had managed to convince the doctors that she was still just as sick and needed to stay in. They had taken the bait and her mother had also agreed. Feeling a lot stronger, Wynonna waited for the hospital to go to sleep before she hopped out of bed, this time without the constraint of the drip. With Dolls’ help, she took this out of her arm carefully before she, Dolls and Doc made their way down the corridor. She had changed out of her hospital gown and was now in trainers, sweat pants and a tank top to help her fight more freely.  
‘Wynonna…’ Doc said his hand on his gun. ‘If you can see it, but we can’t… how can we help?’  
Dolls looked at him amused, ‘do you want out cowboy?’  
Doc sent him a glare, ‘no, I merely want to know my place in this.’  
‘Your place boys, is to protect the children,’ Wynonna told them keeping her eyes peeled studying every part of the hospital they passed as they made their way to the children’s ward once again. ‘No other children are getting taken while I’m here.’  
Cautiously, they turned the corner so that they could see the doors to the children’s ward. Checking around they saw they were alone so Dolls and Doc took out their guns and held them up in front of their faces with Wynonna positioned between them.  
‘You know we’re here to protect you as much as the children,’ Doc reminded her.  
‘And you know… if it comes to a choice, the children come first,’ Wynonna reminded him as she placed her hand on the ward door handle. Doc and Dolls shared a glance, they hated it, but they knew she was right. Slowly, Wynonna turned the handle and they walked silently into the ward. All was quiet, the children were sleeping soundly and it seemed like nothing was out of place.  
‘Anything?’ Doc asked flitting his eyes over every part of the ward, every shadow, every corner.  
‘No,’ Wynonna whispered back. She used every sense she had especially her hearing to see if she could get any indication of the creature and if it was in the room. However, she did expect that she would be able to see it and she’d been able to before.  
Suddenly, Wynonna heard a shuffle and before she had time to react to it something hit her face and she was sent reeling back into Dolls as they both clattered onto the floor. Disconcerted, Wynonna looked up and saw nothing. Beside them, Doc shuffled forward nervously but had no idea where to point his gun. Soon it wasn’t even in his hands as something knocked it out and punched him in the stomach. He fell to the floor right beside where Dolls and Wynonna cowered.  
‘Can you see him?’ Doc asked a little winded.  
Wynonna searched desperately, ‘no… nothing…’ In one of the beds, one of the children woke up and began screaming. She was looking right ahead to something at the end of the bed that the adults could not see. ‘But she can see it…’ Wynonna got to her feet. She now had an idea of where the creature was. She ran forward and launched her weight. It connected. There was a loud thump as the demon hit the floor. Wynonna stumbled backwards as now that their bodies were parted, once again, she had no idea where it was. She looked at the little girl, ‘where is it?’ Terrified, the little girl pointed. Wynonna looked, but it wasn’t quick enough. Angry slashes appeared across her arm as it attacked. Crying out in pain, Wynonna covered them with her hand and staggered back to where Doc and Dolls stood guns up. She realised that this was a fight she could not win. ‘We have to get the children out of here.’  
Doc and Dolls instantly agreed and they began to wake the children with the instructions to follow them out of the ward. As Wynonna awoke one, the invisible creature attacked again. Luckily, it was the back of the hand across her face but the full power of it sent Wynonna flying into the wall behind her. She hit it hard then landed on the floor gasping. Her lip bleeding she looked up at the horrified men and children.  
‘Get them out!’  
Remembering Wynonna’s commands that the children would come first, Dolls and Doc grudgingly continued to usher the children out of the ward. Wynonna could see the door and the ward appeared empty, but she knew that the demon was lurking somewhere in her way. With the children out of the ward, suddenly there was more silence and she would be able to use this to her advantage. She focused in on her hearing. It worked. She heard a shuffled of feet which gave him away. Swinging her arm, she made full contact and he clattered into one of the empty beds. The bed seemed to move on its own as the demon landed against it telling Wynonna exactly where he was. Wynonna took her chance and dashed out of ward to where Doc, Dolls and the children were waiting.

‘Nothing!’ Waverly groaned slamming another book down on the carpet. ‘Anything Jeremy?’ she cried out from her position.  
‘No… how does this demon not exist?’ he shouted back sounding just as irritated.  
‘Have you heard from Nedley?’ Waverly asked.  
‘No… he can’t be having any luck with his books at home,’ he replied. ‘Maybe we need to get Wynonna to do another drawing…’  
‘No…’ Waverly muttered to herself. ‘He must be here somewhere… just playing a bloody good game of hide and seek…’  
‘Still no luck then?’  
Waverly looked up gratefully into Nicole’s eyes as the vampire gazed down now able to visit with the renewal of evening, ‘no… and Wynonna, Doc and Dolls were attacked again and this time… Wynonna couldn’t see him.’  
‘Wynonna couldn’t see him?’ Nicole asked sitting down beside her on the floor.  
‘No… and she was really badly beaten up…’ Waverly said emotionally. She put her hands to her head. ‘I feel like I’m useless, I can’t find the answers and I don’t know a spell that could help either…’  
Nicole did not like the tears she could see in Waverly’s eyes, ‘hey… I know baby,’ with a tender hand, she stroked the side of Waverly’s face following the hair that fell down beside it. She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the human’s forehead. ‘You’re doing everything you can.’  
‘It just doesn’t feel like enough…’  
‘It is… it really is… come here…’ she pulled Waverly into her arms and embraced her holding her tightly.  
Waverly closed her eyes into the hug; despite Nicole’s lack of body heat it was warm and comforting. She found herself smiling subtly again to the effect the vampire had on her. Then, when she opened her eyes, over Nicole’s shoulder she saw something on the front cover of one of the books.   
‘Oh my god…’ she scrambled out of Nicole’s arms and reached beside her to pick up the book. ‘This is it!’ she pointed to the demon on the front cover. ‘This is the demon! Thank you.’ She bent down and kissed Nicole on the cheek. If it hadn’t been for their embrace, she might not have seen it. ‘Jeremy!’ She ran past the vampire and down to the middle table where Wynonna’s drawing lay.  
‘You’ve found it?’ Jeremy got up from his chair and went over to her. Together they studied Wynonna’s drawing and the demon on the front cover.  
‘I was too busy looking at what was in the books that I didn’t see what was on them…’ Waverly said. She opened and the book and looked at the first few pages. Nicole joined them as Waverly’s finger traced the words as they read them. ‘The reason it doesn’t have its own chapter is because it covers all chapters… it’s death.’  
‘Death?’  
‘The demon is death… it comes for those that are sick or near death, it prevents them going peacefully and takes them for its own pleasure… it wants to torture them in their last moments…’ Waverly went on. ‘That’s why Wynonna can’t see it anymore and Doc and Dolls could never see it… only the sick and dying can!’  
‘Can it be killed?’ Jeremy asked.  
Waverly took a moment to find the information, ‘oh ewwwww!’ She looked at Nicole and Jeremy who still waited for the answer. ‘You rip out its eyes… that’s how it extracts your last bit of life from you.’  
‘If she can’t see it, how is she supposed to fight it?’ Nicole wondered.  
‘Guys…’ Jeremy spoke up. ‘I have a really bad idea…’

‘This is a really bad idea,’ Wynonna whispered as she and Jeremy crept up to the door.  
‘I did say that…’ he turned and looked at Waverly who was keeping watch. ‘Didn’t I say that?’  
‘He did say that,’ Waverly agreed.  
‘That doesn’t make it any less of a bad idea!’ Wynonna groaned.  
Starting crouched down; Jeremy slowly rose up so he could peer in through the door’s window. ‘Okay, coast is clear.’ Reaching up he wrapped his hand around the door handle and turned it. It clicked and the door opened towards them. He beckoned Wynonna to follow as they entered the room and closed the door behind them. Waverly backed up to continue keeping watch.  
Glancing around them, Wynonna and Jeremy made their way through the dark over to some fridges at the back of the room. Their glow allowed the teenagers to find their way. They stopped in front of the fridges and looked inside at all the glass vials and tubes.  
‘Oh Jeremy… please tell me you know what you’re doing,’ Wynonna inhaled nervously as she took a seat on the stool behind her at the bench.  
‘I’ll admit this is the first time I’ve done this, like a lot of stuff with you guys… but I do know what I’m looking for…’ he began to scan the vials in the fridge reading all the labels carefully. ‘Ah Influenza… the old A strain, yep, that will do it…’ he stood up holding the vial. ‘It’s amazing how they can cook this stuff up now…’  
‘They cook up flu?’ Wynonna asked bemused.  
‘Only to find out how to fight it… and it’s a good thing they do as otherwise we wouldn’t be able to do this…’ he looked around and found a sterile needle in its packet. ‘Okay, sleeve up.’ Wynonna did as she was told. Jeremy carefully filled a little of the needle and tapped it to remove any air bubbles. ‘Oh my god, I’ve always wanted to do that!’  
‘You’re enjoying this way too much Jeremy.’   
He allowed himself one more chuckle before he put all his concentration into what he was doing. Cautiously, he inserted the needle into Wynonna’s arm then disposed of it in the bin behind him. He turned back to watch Wynonna carefully.  
‘How you doing?’ he put his hands out either side of her just in case the serum had worked quickly.  
Wynonna blinked a few times and looked confused, ‘absolutely fine.’  
‘It might take a few minutes, come on we better get out of here,’ he helped her off the stool. They made their way quickly out of the lab and back into the corridor where Waverly was still keeping watch.  
‘Well?’  
‘Nothing yet…’ Wynonna told her.  
‘Well you can’t fight it unless you’re sick!’  
Suddenly, a scream erupted into the air, ‘I might not have a choice Waves…’ together all three of them tore down the corridor back towards the children’s ward. Once they reached Dolls, Doc and Nedley who were already there, Wynonna was beginning to feel the effects of the injection. She grabbed hold of Waverly to get her balance.  
‘Where have you guys been?’ Nedley asked before seeing that Wynonna was looking a little queasy. ‘You okay?’  
‘I had to do something Nedley,’ Wynonna told him as she breathed heavily.  
Nedley straightened, ‘what did you do?’ The slayer and Jeremy looked awkward. ‘Wynonna… what… did… you… do?’  
‘It’s in there!’ came Nicole’s cry as she came streaming up the corridor towards them.  
‘Did you see it?’ Waverly asked.  
‘No… but the kids are screaming,’ Nicole replied her voice shaking.  
‘They put the kids back in there!?’ Jeremy cried mortified.   
Nedley glared at his slayer, ‘you and I will talk later…’  
Together the group made their way to the children’s ward door. Wynonna took a deep breath to steady herself before she moved to go in. Behind her, Doc and Dolls raised their weapons again ready to follow. Wynonna nodded to them and with a few blinks as the world spun again she pushed the doors open and entered the room. She was horrified to see that all the children were gone. Instead, standing in the middle of the room was only the demon itself.  
‘No children… there are no children!’ Wynonna screamed.   
Doc turned to Waverly and Jeremy, ‘last time he took them through the wall, they might be in the back.’  
Waverly nodded and moved to find a way round, but not before a hand pulled her back. She looked back into Nicole’s eyes, ‘you need to stay here to help Wynonna…’  
‘Are you kidding me!?’ Nicole cried. ‘I’m coming with you… who knows what’s back there.’  
‘Um Waverly, I’m with the vampire…’ Jeremy agreed.  
Waverly glanced back at Doc and Dolls her concern only for her sick best friend about to fight one nasty demon. Nicole grabbed her arm and squeezed it, ‘she’ll be fine Waves… she’s strong.’ There was a moment of reluctance but Waverly knew she didn’t have time to argue. With Jeremy and Nicole behind her, Waverly found the side door to make her way into the back of the hospital. They found themselves at the top of a flight of stairs and began to run down in search of the missing children.

Back in the children’s ward, Wynonna was using all her strength to fight off the overwhelming feeling of nausea and dizziness as she squared up the demon who looked like he was putting on a show. In his space, he laughed nastily, tipped his hat and put his hands out, extending his long sharp finger nails into the air. It was as though he was conducting his own orchestra.  
‘Oh man… I’m going to rip your eyes right out of your…’ she was unable to finish as weakness took over her body and she had to use a nearby bed to stop herself from hitting the floor.  
Rushing forward, Dolls grabbed her arm to help her up, ‘you okay to do this?’  
‘I got to Dolls… this evil man and his stupid hat are finished…’ she shrugged him off and squared up to the demon again.  
Death merely cackled as he came forward. Sweat dripping off her head with her fever, Wynonna strode up to him. She swung her arm at his face. She missed completely and staggered past him. Everything went blurry and she tried to swing again, but the demon’s fish connecting with her face sent her skidding back along the floor until she hit the end of the bed with a mighty clang.  
‘Wynonna!’ Doc cried from behind his gun. He turned to Dolls. ‘We gotta do something!’  
‘How when we can’t see it?’ Dolls argued.  
Hearing them, Wynonna realised she had to show them where he was. With a shake of the head, she moved forward, used everything she had to duck the demon’s hands and grabbed him by the collar. A wall nearby, she shoved him up against it. He flailed aimlessly as Wynonna gritted her teeth to keep her weak arms working for her. Her hands didn’t feel like her own and they were barely holding on.  
‘There!’ Dolls shouted. ‘He’s there!’  
Together they opened fire at the invisible space between Wynonna and wall. However, it was only Wynonna who had the pleasure of watching the demon become riddle with bullets. Yet somehow, it still managed to keep laughing through the grimaces. Soon it became limp in her arms allowing Wynonna to bring her arms down and throw it onto the floor. Her body then chose that very inopportune moment to give up on her. Her legs buckling she fell to the floor next to the demon gasping for air. Despite the fact it was bleeding profusely from various wounds, the demon took its chance. It jumped on top of Wynonna and began to slash at her with its nails, still laughing as it did so.  
‘Oh god… Wynonna!’ Dolls cried seeing Wynonna’s hands desperately trying to fend off something on top of her.  
‘I got this!’ Wynonna assured them despite her dizziness. ‘And it’s going to be gross!’ She reached up between the demons arms, the nails catching her on her arms. She ignored the pain from the new cuts and plunged her thumbs deep into the demon’s eyes. It screamed out in agony and tried to pull away. However, Wynonna was not going to let it go and kept going until black blood oozed out as she crushed the eyes into nothing. Slowly, the life in the demon disappeared and it became dead weight in her arms. As the blood began to drip on Wynonna’s face, disgusted she threw it to one side. Now dead, all the demon’s power was gone and it flickered into reality and became visible to Doc, Dolls and Nedley.  
‘Woah that’s a thing…’ Doc exclaimed.  
‘So that’s what death looks like…’ Dolls said.  
‘In one form…’ Nedley added. ‘One of many.’  
Their attention returned to Wynonna who now allowed herself to go limp on the floor. The men rushed to herself all helping her to her feet, ‘guys… I’m not feeling so well…’ she told them beginning to shiver.

Using Jeremy and Nicole’s advanced hearing; they reached the basement of the hospital. Dark and full of steam from the various vents, the three peered between the pipes and equipment in storage to catch any glimpse of the children.  
‘They must be petrified…’ Waverly said softly.  
Suddenly, Jeremy’s head twitched as he heard something, ‘there…’ he crept forward towards one of the walls. There behind one of the large pipes he saw the group trembling huddled together. ‘Hey little people… it’s okay… we’re here to help…’  
‘Is it coming?’ one of them asked shaking.  
‘Don’t worry, a superhero is up there right now fighting it and she will win,’ Waverly smiled holding her arms out to them.  
‘A superhero?’ a little girl asked getting up. ‘What kind?’  
‘The best kind,’ Waverly went on taking her hand. ‘One who will always put others before herself and put herself in danger to save others.’  
The girl took Waverly’s hand and the others followed, ‘what’s her name?’  
Waverly looked to Jeremy and Nicole for help, ‘Wynonna, the Hospital Heroine…’ Jeremy said. It wasn’t his best, but he thought it was fitting. He wrapped his arms around a little boy who melted into them and took the hand of another.  
Nervously, Nicole watched as a little girl made his way over to her. She was so innocent looking and fragile, something which scared the vampire. However, it was clear what the little girl needed so she crouched down to greet her. The child moved forward and from around her neck a cross necklace fell forward and nearly touched Nicole. Only acting instinctively, Nicole morphed and fell back against the pipe behind her with a growl.   
To her astonishment the little girl did not scream or look scared. She moved forward unaware of what had caused Nicole’s reaction. ‘Are you a superhero too?’ she asked. Nicole couldn’t speak, she was too astonished as the girl, of only six or seven, reached up and touched Nicole’s face. ‘I would be scared of you if I were a bad guy…’ From one of her yellow eyes, a couple of tears fell down Nicole’s cheek as a creature of pure innocence accepted who she was. ‘Are you going to protect me?’  
‘Of course,’ Nicole replied. The little girl smiled and fell into her arms. The cross was now pressed against Nicole’s skin and burned but the vampire ignored the pain. Instead she wrapped her arms around the little human in her arms and closed her eyes into the embrace. Their arms also full of children, Jeremy and Waverly watched. Overwhelmed, Waverly also found herself wiping tears away from her own eyes.

With Doc and Nedley’s help, Dolls lowered Wynonna back into her hospital bed.  
‘Now you are not to leave this until you feel better,’ Nedley instructed. ‘God knows what Jeremy injected you with…’ He turned to the young man behind him who looked very sheepish. ‘…something which we are going to have words about by the way!’  
‘Like I said… bad idea,’ he said putting his hands up in surrender.  
‘Nedley…’ came Wynonna’s weak voice from the bed. ‘I agreed to it… it was the only way to fight the demon…’  
‘See… I had to get consent!’ Jeremy stated.  
‘Either way… it was close,’ Nedley said knowing that although it was a bad idea, it was one that allowed them to defeat the demon that had haunted the children of the hospital for far too long. ‘At least the children are safe now…’  
‘How has it been getting away with this?’ Dolls asked. ‘So many children.’  
‘This town is a haven for strange anomaly’s…’ Nedley explained taking a seat exhausted. ‘They always found their bodies around the hospital. They figured the children had sleep walked and had falls or were hallucinating due to their drugs and done strange things to themselves… when it comes to the deaths of children, sometimes people don’t want to know the truth or even admit it.’  
‘They thought some of the deaths were suicides?’ Wynonna asked appalled.  
‘Some of these children are terminally ill…’ Nedley went on. ‘The alternative theory was that a doctor was hurting the children. With a town low on doctors, you can understand why people did not want to believe that one.’  
‘At least now no other parents have to wonder anymore…’ Doc said with a sigh of relief. He walked over to Wynonna’s bedside as she began to drift off the new illness truly setting in. ‘You can sleep now slayer…’ he brought a hand up to face and timidly stroked it. Dolls frowned at the affectionate touch and found himself having to look away. Wynonna however did not feel it as she had already fallen asleep. Doc ensured her blanket covered her body before turning back to Nedley and Dolls.  
‘My work here is done also,’ he took off his hat respectfully to the other men. ‘Gentlemen.’ With a smile, he was gone.  
‘I don’t like him,’ Dolls muttered looking at his hands.  
Nedley raised his eyebrows, ‘he appears to be on our side,’ he said. ‘And fought bravely alongside you and Wynonna when he has no stakes in what happened at all.’  
Dolls glanced at him a little irritated at the good point, ‘I know… but I still don’t like him.’  
Wynonna laughed at the ex-soldier for a moment before being hit with another mystery, ‘did you ever find out why I became sick Nedley?’  
‘I couldn’t find it in any of my books, so I called the Council for some advice and they didn’t know either,’ he told her. ‘So they went to a higher being for some answers. There’s an oracle called the All-Knowing-Eye in England.’  
‘Okay… too many things with eyes going on at the moment,’ Wynonna quipped.  
‘The Eye didn’t tell them much but what it did say was very curious, it said that The Powers That Be have their ways of helping,’ once he finished talked Nedley looked as confused as Dolls and Wynonna.  
‘The Powers That Be?’ Dolls pressed.  
‘They’re like the God of the demon world, they are supposedly the things that govern this world, that decide how everything should happen…’ he looked at Wynonna. ‘I think what the All-Knowing-Eye was trying to say that you became sick because of them because you needed to be.’  
Wynonna nodded catching on, ‘so I could see the demon…’  
‘If you hadn’t been sick, you would never have seen the demon and he would have carried on killing children,’ Nedley agreed.  
‘Do you think they approve of me making myself sick again?’ Wynonna asked.  
Nedley chuckled, ‘we’ll soon found out depending on how long it takes you to recover…’

Her eyes closed, Waverly enjoyed every moment of the cool lips against her own. The chill of the night air coming into her open window did nothing to encourage her to stop the embrace and close it. With Nicole on the roof leaning in, Waverly happily leant against her window frame with her arms wrapped around the vampire’s neck. Slowly, her finger tips traced the line of Nicole’s neck down to her chest. It was only the flinch of the vampire that pulled them apart.   
Waverly looked down at where her fingers were and saw that they lingered near the burn mark in the shape of a cross on Nicole’s chest, ‘sorry…’ she winched knowing it must have hurt.  
‘It’s okay… it will heal soon,’ Nicole assured her.  
Waverly gazed at Nicole bringing her hand back up to her face, ‘that meant a lot to you didn’t it? The little girl, embracing you in your vampire form.’  
At the memory, Nicole smiled, ‘I used to be something children would fear. Parents would tell stories of myself and Shae in the old times to keep their children in line.’ Her faced fell. ‘It now haunts me more than it haunts them… that I was something that evil.’   
‘But she didn’t fear you…’ Waverly said softly stroking her cheek.  
‘No…’ Nicole nodded happily. ‘She didn’t.’  
‘Because you’re good Nicole…’ She paused to take Nicole’s beauty in once again. She smiled adoringly at the vampire’s face in her hands. ‘It’s why I think I might lo…’ A sharp knock at the door stopped Waverly in her tracks. ‘Oh crap… it’s Gus… quick, before she sees you!’ Waverly urged under her breath. Nicole looked a little flustered at first, but obeyed sliding down the roof and dropping out of sight. She did this just in time before Gus entered.  
The older woman looked puzzled as she looked around the room, ‘who are you talking to?’  
‘No one…’ Waverly searched for an answer as she tried to look as innocent as possible leaning up against the frame to her open window. ‘Just thinking out loud…’  
‘Uh huh…’ Gus said unconvinced still looking around. She observed the open window. ‘You might want to close that before you catch a chill…’  
Waverly looked up at it, ‘I like the fresh air…’  
‘Typical teenager, got an answer for everything don’t you?’ Gus snickered. Waverly just grinned. ‘It’s late, you should think about getting ready for bed. I’m turning in now.’ She walked back to the door, still checking around the room. She stopped in the doorway and looked back at Waverly with a knowing look. ‘Sleep well.’  
‘Night,’ Waverly replied as calmly as she could.  
Gus lingered for a moment before she left the room and closed the door behind her. As soon as she had, Waverly searched out of her window for any sight of Nicole. After a few moments, with an incredible leap from the ground below, Nicole easily jumped up onto roof and began to crawl her way back over silently.  
‘Do you think she’ll come back?’ Nicole asked looking a little uneasy.  
‘I don’t care…’ Waverly said with eyes only for her. ‘That time just now where you weren’t here… that was too long.’  
‘It was only a few minutes,’ Nicole giggled but she loved it.  
Waverly’s face became serious as her eyes locked into Nicole’s, ‘I know…’  
Nicole knew what Waverly meant and Waverly had nearly said it. She so desperately wanted to hear Waverly say the words, but was not going to push. She presumed in the panic of Gus’ entrance Waverly had forgotten but she was sure Waverly would remember again soon. Instead, she welcomed the human’s lips back onto her own. When Waverly kissed her, all her memories and the visions that haunted her disappeared. The voices, the screaming, the begging that played on repeat in her ears was silenced. In its place, were the soft touch of an eager mouth and the tight embrace of adoring arms. Nicole knew she would never know heaven, but Waverly took her close.


	14. Passion

 

Above him, he could see the stars but he could not reach them. The sky quivered and shook as his hand pressed against the invisible prison wall. Crying out angrily, he pushed with all his might but it did not give. Roaring, his eyes glowing red, Bobo turned and made his way back down the steps to the cave below.

‘I am so sick of being trapped in this god forsaken cave!’ he bellowed into the dark. Instead of using his power, he swiped his hand into some candle sticks sending them flying. In her chair, Willa jumped a little startled as her lover marched over towards her. He stopped in the middle of the cave looking up at its ceiling. ‘A thing of such beauty has become marred to me… it’s vulgar.’

‘Hush love…’ Willa said softly as she rose to her feet. ‘We have had a setback… but we will find another way.’ She brushed her hand across his chest expecting it to soothe him. However he whirled round and grabbed her by the neck.

‘You incessant optimism is nauseating… as even though it still drips from your mouth… I’m still stuck down here!’ he threw her away with such force that she nearly fell to the floor.

‘There’s no need to be like that with me!’ she whimpered her lip trembling. ‘I am only trying to help.’

‘That’s just it you stupid woman!’ Bobo shouted. ‘You cannot help.’ His brow softened a little at Willa’s distress but his frustration remained. ‘I need Shae!’

Willa tried to gather herself by readjusting her clothes, ‘she’s dead Bobo. She’s gone.’

As if it were news he’d only just heard, Bobo put his hands to his face and crumpled to his knees, ‘my only hope… gone…’ In front of his face he watched as he clenched his fists together. ‘That damn slayer, I would crush her skull!’

‘It wasn’t the slayer Bobo…’ Willa said carefully watching him but keeping her distance. ‘It was Nicole… her and her pathetic love for a human.’

‘Yes…’ Bobo said remembering. ‘She’s fallen so far from us.’ His thoughts then turned back to his loss and entrapment. His face creased in pain as he looked up to the ceiling once again. ‘I’ve lost so much!’

‘You still have me my love…’ Willa reminded him beginning to walk forward.

She was stopped when Bobo jumped to his feet and whirled round to face her, ‘can you free me from this prison?’ Willa had to stop as they both knew the answer. ‘Then you are no good to me. As I said… I need Shae…’ He looked pain once again. ‘Bring me Shae!’ Covering his face with his hands he went back to his chair and slumped down into it wailing. From where she stood, Willa tried not to break down at Bobo’s dismissal of her. Instead, quietly she hatched a plan. Something to seek revenge for both herself and Bobo.

 

‘Don’t you need to be out there with Wynonna?’ Nicole asked barely able to get the words out as Waverly kissed her. Aware that the slayer was not far from them, Nicole peered through the leaves that secluded them.

‘Why?’ Waverly asked. ‘Would you much rather be out there with her?’

Nicole realised she had to answer quickly, ‘no…’ she said. Before she could continue Waverly was kissing her again pushing her up against the tree behind her. There was no question that Nicole wanted to be kissing Waverly, but a sense of duty was also absorbing her. ‘She’s going to wonder where we are…’

‘Nicole!’ Waverly laughed with the hint of a little irritation. ‘She’s fine…’ she looked through the branches and saw that Wynonna was where they had left her, sitting on a gravestone looking out across the quiet cemetery. ‘See for yourself…’ She pointed and Nicole’s eyes followed her arm. ‘Happy?’

Amused by Waverly’s insistence, Nicole looked back at the human and swept her up in her arms. She changed their position so that Waverly was now pushed up against the tree their lips and arms entangling. Waverly’s fingers found the back of Nicole’s neck. She loved to hook her hands around it to pull the vampire down to her. Unknown to them, at that precise moment, Wynonna was no longer alone in the grave yard.

Wynonna spotted one of them, but was unaware of the others that had snuck up behind her. Leaping off the grave stone Wynonna’s feet where able to connect with the first vampire, but the second came quickly from behind. It wrapped its arms around Wynonna and dragged her onto the floor. She went to cry out for Waverly but one of the vampires smothered her cries.

‘You’re all alone slayer…’ she laughed nastily. Wynonna however was able to react quickly; she flipped her leg up and was able to connect it with the vampire’s head.

‘I’m never alone… I have my skills,’ Wynonna grinned as she jumped to her feet. She was still however, surrounded by three vampires. ‘Waverly!’

‘Did you hear something?’ Nicole asked pulling away from Waverly breathless. They both paused but heard nothing more as Wynonna was too busy spinning and kicking her way desperately out of trouble.

‘I can’t hear anything…’ Waverly shrugged. Nicole wasn’t convinced, but at no further sound she returned her attention and her lips to Waverly.

‘Jesus… where is that girl?’ Wynonna asked herself as she back away from the group. ‘Now come on slayer, you’ve been on worse positions than this…’ she reached for her stake but saw that it had fallen out of her jacket when she had been thrown to the floor. ‘Oh that’s not good…’

Seeing this, one of the vampires smirked and rushed forward, but Wynonna was ready. She used the grave stone behind to flip herself over him whilst grabbing his shoulders. The force sent him flying into the others. They were hit like skittles by a bowling ball giving Wynonna the time to run towards the trees and look for a make shift stake. When she reached the edge, it was there that she spotted the secluded couple.

‘Oh you have got to be kidding me!’ she exclaimed.

Immediately, Waverly pushed Nicole away, ‘we’re totally not making out on patrol,’ she protested looking very guilty.

‘Well, I’m glad you remember that that’s where you are because right now…’ she looked behind her to where the vampires had got to her feet and were coming their way. ‘I’m in trouble!’

Nicole and Waverly looked past Wynonna and saw the vampires charging towards them, ‘oh man…’ Nicole groaned running out of the trees. ‘Waverly stay back…’

‘What!?’ Waverly cried annoyed. ‘I can help!’

‘Can you make sticks fly at them?’ Nicole asked bracing herself ready to fight.

Agitated, Waverly crossed her arms, ‘are you making fun of me?’

At this Nicole looked horrified, ‘no… no I’m not!’ she so desperately wanted to clear up the misunderstanding but the vampires were pretty much on top of her and Wynonna. ‘Promise!’ She could no longer focus on Waverly as she threw a punch right in the face of one of the vampires.

‘I’ll have you know that a flying pencil could be very useful in this situation!’ Waverly shouted indignantly.

Between them, Nicole and Wynonna made quick work of the vampires. Wynonna was able to get back to her stake and use it to good effect whilst Nicole incapacitated them. When the last had exploded into dust, Nicole ran straight back to Waverly who stood glaring from her position by the trees.

‘You know I would never make fun of your powers…’ she insisted. ‘You know I think they’re amazing…’

Waverly tried to stay angry, but Nicole’s eyes rendered her helpless, ‘You better not because thinking about it, if I can make sticks fly through the air at vampires… very handy!’

‘Oh shut up both of you!’ came Wynonna’s angry remark. Eyes wide in shock the two looked at the slayer as she marched over. ‘Due to this annoying lovely dovey crap you two have going on, I was nearly in real trouble there!’ Nicole and Waverly glanced at each other shamefacedly. ‘It’s lovely, its cute… it’s a bit gross… and it does not belong on patrol!’ She glared at both of them like a mother at her naughty children. ‘Okay?’

‘Sorry…’ Nicole and Waverly said together.

Wynonna took a deep breath, ‘okay…’ she then stopped on a thought and looked at Waverly. ‘That flying stakes thing? Think that’s something you could actually do?’ Slowly, Waverly’s solemn face became a grin.

 

Walking up to the house, Willa cased it looking at the dimly lit windows the sheer normality of it. She was alone in the dark road as she cross it and made her way up the steps to the front door. Before she rang the doorbell, she normalised her face and softened it. She would need to be a human for this to work. With a soft finger, she pressed the button and listened to it ring. It was only a few moments before the door was opened.

‘Hello,’ Gus asked as she looked up into the unfamiliar face.

‘Oh hi,’ Willa smiled. ‘You must be Gus…’

Gus frowned, ‘do I know you?’

‘No… no you don’t…’ Willa continued playing the friendly human. ‘I’m Willa, I know Waverly from school.’

Looking Willa up and down, Gus tried to make sense of it, ‘she’s never mentioned a Willa…’

‘Oh I’m new… just moved to town,’ there was no panic, she remained calm and focused on her act.

Gus unstiffened a little, ‘well okay Willa who’s just moved to town… what can I do you for?’

‘I’m here for Waverly, we’re working on a project together.’

‘It’s a bit late to be working on a project isn’t it?’ Gus asked crossing her arms as she leaned against the door frame.

Inside the vampire, she was beginning to become very vexed by the human in front of her. However, with the barrier of the threshold which she could not pass without an invite, Gus was untouchable. ‘I’m just here to check in and see how her part is going.’ She continued to smile. ‘Short visit. Is she here?’

Once again, Gus looked Willa up and down. She had always been a suspicious woman and something did sit right with her about this girl. She dressed too grown up to a pupil from school. However, one thing that was a mystery to her more than anything else was the current fashion of youths.

‘She’s not here right now, went out with Wynonna… you’re welcome to wait inside…’ she stood inside showing Willa that she was welcome inside the house. Keeping her expression respectful and innocent, she passed the unwitting woman over the threshold. ‘But if it gets too late you will have to go…’ she closed the door behind her and turned to face Willa.

‘Oh don’t worry Mrs Gibson,’ Willa smirked facing away from Gus. ‘This won’t take long…’

‘Excuse me?’ Gus asked confused. It was only when Willa turned that she saw the full extent of what she had let into her house. Even though she had never seen anything like it before, she knew it was not good.

 

Having seen Wynonna off, Waverly and Nicole walked up to the house looking a little sheepish.

‘We have to be more careful…’ Nicole said cautiously.

This time there was no protest from Waverly, ‘I know… I’m sorry…’

‘Don’t think that I don’t want to…’ Nicole cut in quickly as they approached the steps up to the porch. ‘Because, you know I want to?’

‘I know,’ Waverly smiled. ‘You were just looking out for Wynonna…’ she reached forward and took Nicole’s hands. ‘It’s nice… that you do that.’ She stepped forward to get closer to Nicole but then realised that they were in full view of all the other houses in the street. Leading her by the hand, Waverly took Nicole around the back. Laughing, she went to push Nicole back against the house intending to start up where they’d had to leave off on patrol when something caught her eye through the back door.

Nicole noticed her distraction, ‘Waves?’

Without a word, Waverly walked to the back door and peered in, ‘wait here…’ she said her voice shaking a little. Nicole was hesitant but did as she was told. Slowly, Waverly opened the door and walked inside, she did not like what she saw. The vase that was usually in the middle of the kitchen table was smashed on the floor next to a chair that had been knocked off. Following the debris, it continued into the hallway where some shelves had been knocked off the wall and onto the floor, their contents scattered across the wooden floor. Her eyes tracing them, Waverly saw something which stopped her from breathing. ‘Nicole!’ Outside, Nicole heard the call immediately. ‘Come in… come here!’ At the command, Nicole flew through the door, through the kitchen over the damage and into the hall where Waverly now knelt on the floor staring at what she had found. Slowly, Nicole knelt down beside her, ‘blood… it’s blood!’

Nicole studied it. With a delicate finger, she took a bit on it’s a tip and brought it up to her nose, ‘it’s human…’ Nicole said softly.

Tears were already in the young human’s eyes, ‘it’s Gus’.’ Her face was ridden with pain. ‘Who would want to hurt Gus?’ Nicole did the only thing she could think of to do. She swept Waverly up in her arms and turned her head away from the pool of blood on the floor. Waverly allowed herself to sob terrified tears into the vampire’s arms.

 

‘Have you moved anything?’ Nedley asked as he stood in the middle of the hall.

Sitting on the stairs, Waverly stared ahead of her blankly, ‘no…’

‘And you didn’t see anything?’ Wynonna pressed as she stared down at the blood amongst the broken china and picture frames.

‘No…’

‘Do you think this is a job for the police?’ Wynonna asked looking at Nedley.

Nedley looked around him, ‘no signs of anything in our usual line of work, a clear struggle…maybe a burglary gone wrong…’ he suggested. ‘Yes… I think this might need some more help.’ He looked at Waverly and saw that she was in no state to be making any phone calls. ‘I’ll do it.’ He nodded to Wynonna who turned her attention to Waverly as Nedley made his way into the kitchen to the phone.

‘Were you alone when you found this Waves?’ she sat down next to Waverly on the stairs.

‘No… Nicole was with me,’ she wiped the tears from under her eyes.

‘Where is she now?’

Waverly continued to stare ahead at the wall, ‘she’s scouring the area to see if she can find any clues…’

‘Good idea,’ Wynonna smiled gently putting her arm around her friend. ‘Using those senses of hers.’

‘I’m sorry… about tonight…’ Waverly said finally moving her eyes.

‘Hey…’ Wynonna laughed. ‘Don’t you worry about that now… you and Nicole are just happy… it’s nice.’ At that moment, Nicole came in through the front door. ‘Oh speaking of… anything?’

‘There’s a blood trail…’ Nicole nodded. ‘It stops at the edge of the field… she must have been put into some sort of transport or the bleeding was stopped somehow.’

‘How…’ she stopped her question seeing Waverly’s bewildered face. She rose from the steps and turned Nicole away from Waverly. ‘How much blood?’

‘Enough…’ Nicole replied. Wynonna looking down understanding her meaning.

‘What?’ Waverly demanded rising from the stairs. ‘What is it? Do not hide things from me!’

Nicole and Wynonna were stuck as to what to say and were relieved when Nedley returned to the hallway from the kitchen, ‘the police are on their way…’ he saw the distress on Waverly’s face. ‘I’ve also called Jeremy… he has certain skills which we can use also.’

‘We have to find her Nedley,’ Waverly begged. ‘She’s the only family I have left.’

Nedley walked forward so that he could place a comforting hand on her shoulder, ‘we will do all that we can… you have a lot of people in your corner…’ Waverly looked into his eyes but her worry was not stilled. Instead she looked around for Nicole and fell into her arms. Using this opportunity, Nedley beckoned Wynonna away. ‘I know you’re not going to like this, but we might need to try avenue we were hoping to avoid…’

‘What Nedley, what are you going to make me do?’ she already had an idea but hoped it wasn’t true.

‘The Initiative,’ Nedley sighed. He prepared himself for her reaction.

It came. ‘No… Nedley… no!’ she wanted to shout but she knew it would cause Waverly more distress. ‘We can’t… they tried to kill Jeremy and Nicole and have suspended Dolls for doing the right thing!’

‘Wynonna!’ Nedley said between gritted teeth. ‘This is more than our hatred of them. This is more than that confounded woman Lucado. This is about Gus. We have to bury our pride here.’ Wynonna calmed down accepting the horrible reality of the situation. ‘We have to use everything we can… for Waverly.’

Closing her eyes, Wynonna took a deep breath, ‘for Waverly…’ she agreed.

 

Her hands and feet bound to the chair on which she sat, Gus grimaced at the pain in her shoulder caused by Willa slamming her to the floor. A wound on her head dripped with blood from where the vampire had struck her. Now sitting in the middle of an abandoned barn, although unable to grasp what she had seen on Willa’s face, she knew she was in a precarious situation. She had stopped struggling against the rope around her wrists and was now simply staring ahead at the woman who sat on some old bales of hay opposite her.

‘Who are you?’ she asked. ‘Or… what are you?’

Willa smirked, ‘now there’s a question,’ she had some of Gus’ blood on her finger; she licked it off slowly savouring the taste. ‘Some call us the undead, some demons, others blood suckers… but most give us the name…’ she stared into Gus’ eyes. ‘Vampires.’

‘Vampires?’

‘Oh I’m sure you’ve heard of us…’ Willa laughed getting to her feet. ‘… in myth, legend, folklore…’ she walked over to Gus and bent down so she could look the frightened human right in the face. ‘… but we’re very real my dear…’ Gus tried to hide her fear, gritting her teeth and clasping her mouth closed. ‘You don’t believe me?’ She licked her tongue across her lips and changed her face. Gus couldn’t help but gasp. ‘How about now?’

Gus caught her breath, ‘I’m asleep and this is some nightmare…’

Sneering, Willa straightened, ‘not to Waverly…’

‘To Waverly?’ she looked up at the vampire who began to circle her.

‘Where do you think your precious girl was this evening?’ Willa asked delighting in every shock and secret she was revealing.

Gus searched her thoughts, ‘out with friends, with Wynonna and Jeremy…’

‘What do you think they were doing?’ Willa continued.

‘Normal teenager stuff…’ the more Willa pressed the more Gus sensed that what she knew about her adopted daughter was not the truth.

Willa could sense this too, ‘oh you poor thing…’ she stroked Gus’ face taunting her. ‘You’ve been told so many lies… so… many… lies.’ She stared into the human’s frightened and sad eyes. ‘Waverly is not the girl you thought she was. There are so many things that she hasn’t told you.’

‘Waverly doesn’t lie to me…’ Gus insisted trying to remain strong.

‘Oh she does my poor lady…’ Willa sneered again. She clasped her hands tightly around Gus’ head. If she wanted, with her vampire strength she could crush Gus’ head without breaking a sweat. But that was not her intent, she wished only to show Gus who was in control. ‘She does… about so many things.’

As Willa walked away from Gus leaving her with that thought, Gus’ eyes flitted over the ground trying to make sense of what she was being told. ‘Not my Waverly… not my Waverly…’ she whispered to herself over and over again trying to believe it.

 

The group watched as Jeremy moved around the room trying to pick up a clue. However, instead of using his usual tools, he was using just one.

‘Anything?’ Wynonna asked.

Although he knew he was accepted by them, he still felt a little self-conscious, ‘it would help of you guys didn’t watch…’ he turned his attention to Waverly’s pleading eyes. He understood them, but they were putting more pressure on him.

‘Okay…’ Wynonna said. ‘Let us know if you find anything.’ She gestured to the others and they all followed her out of the hallway into the kitchen.

As soon as they had gone, Jeremy felt a lot more comfortable to move around the hall picking things up and bringing them to his nose. Ever since his first transformation he had found that his hearing and sense of smell had become so heightened that sometimes he wished he could turn it off. However now, it was one of the most useful tools he had.

In the kitchen the group stood silently, now knowing what to do or say. The police had come and gone but admitted they had no leads. They would start canvassing the area and would process the evidence they had collected. Despite this, the group didn’t hold out much hope. All of them had the feeling that this was something beyond the means of the police.

Tears in her eyes, Waverly turned to Nicole, ‘what do we do?’ It pained Nicole that she had no answers, all she could do was pull Waverly into her arms and hold her tightly.

‘Nicole!’ Jeremy’s cry came loudly through the air. Gently, Nicole let go of Waverly and rushed into the hallway where Jeremy was picking something up from near the door. ‘What do you make of this?’ In between his fingers he held a small piece of black fabric. He passed it to her. ‘It has a strong scent, but I can’t make anything of it.’

Nicole took and brought it to her nose, her eyes widened with recognition, ‘I know this…’ behind them the others came into the hallway wondering what Jeremy’s shout was all about.

‘What is it?’ Wynonna asked stepping forward.

Nicole breathed in the fabric again, ‘it smells of damp and blood… and also, flame… flame from candles…’

‘You think whoever took Gus comes from somewhere damp with candles?’ Wynonna checked. Nicole nodded causing Wynonna to look at Waverly. They were the only two who had been there. ‘The cave… Bobo!’

‘Bobo can’t have done this…’ Nedley pointed out. ‘He’s still trapped underground in that cave.’

‘Who else is down there?’ Jeremy asked.

‘Willa!’ Waverly cried.

Wynonna agreed, ‘right, Nicole you accompany Waverly to the cave to see if she’s there… Nedley and Jeremy you remain here and see if there’s anything we or the police missed. The police might come back to us with something so someone should stay. I’m going to go to the Initiative just in case she isn’t as we might need their help.’

‘You are mad?’ Jeremy blurted out. ‘After they tried to killed me?’

‘I am aware Jeremy,’ Wynonna snapped as annoyed about it as he was. She calmed herself for a moment. ‘I hate it as much as you do but this isn’t about us… this isn’t about our feelings… this is about Gus.’ She looked at Waverly who was barely keeping the tears at bay. ‘This is about getting her back safely.’ Jeremy could see her point and dropped his head feeling a little ashamed for making it about him.

The awkward tension was broken as Doc came through the door, ‘hi… I got a text thing saying…’ he held his phone up trying to read it. ‘Urgent, need help, come quick… I mean, what has happened to the English language?’ Looking up from his phone he saw that he was met with unimpressed glares. Raising his eyebrows, Doc quickly slipped the phone back into his pocket. ‘Clearly not the time to be distracted by such things.’

‘Gus is gone,’ Wynonna told him. ‘She’s been taken and we think by Willa who is a vampire. I need you to go with Waverly and Nicole to see if she’s in the cave where she and Bobo are.’ Doc nodded and put his hand on his gun. ‘That won’t be any good there. He can telekinetically move anything metal.’

‘Well how am I supposed to fight then?’ Doc asked alarmed.

‘The old fisticuffs,’ Jeremy told him.

To this, Doc gulped as he looked at his human hands, ‘Dolls had a point, all I have is my gun…’

 

As they approached the entrance to the cave, Nicole ushered Waverly and Doc behind her. Just like Wynonna had done when rescuing Waverly, they carefully went inside the monument and peered down the steps that descended inside. The group were wary, Waverly and Nicole knew how many vampires could be waiting for them inside. Still, they had to press on. Taking one step at a time they made their way down and began the walk through the tunnels towards the cave. They could hear talking ahead of them and the dim glow of candle light became brighter as they ventured on.

‘Stay behind me okay,’ Nicole said to Waverly who simply nodded with no argument.

Soon, they had reached the cave and were relieved to see that Bobo was minus his vampire army. Only one of his vampires stood in front of him and seemed to be taking the brunt of another angry rant. He was instantly distracted when Nicole’s face appeared through one of the entrances into the cave.

‘Well…’ he smirked. ‘What do we have here? A visitor… oh no…’ Waverly and Doc followed. ‘Three visitors… to what do I owe the pleasure?’ He smiled, but his visitors did not. They stood their ground wary. Doc covered his gun, just as Wynonna had warned him to. It was no longer is weapon to wield, Bobo could do a lot more damage with it than he could. ‘Wait…’ Bobo focused on Waverly. ‘I recognise you…’ He moved forward causing Nicole to put her arm across Waverly protectively. ‘And of course I know you… our lost vampire…’ he looked at Nicole with a little disdain before his eyes flicked to Doc. ‘But you I do not know… how interesting.’

‘We’re not here for pleasantries Bobo,’ Nicole interrupted.

‘Oh I bet you’re not,’ Bobo laughed nastily. ‘Not anymore anyway… those days are long past aren’t they Nicole?… now that you have that pesky soul…’ His face turned dark and his eyes glowed. ‘It’s what took my Shae away! Because of this lowly human…’

Behind Nicole, Waverly jumped startled as he growled at her. Furious Nicole pushed him back, ‘you hurt her and I’ll…’

‘What?’ He moved back returning his eyes to normal. ‘Stake me?’ He laughed again. ‘Won’t work on me… hurts and can be pesky for me to move but it won’t kill me…’ He looked around, he could see he was outnumbered, even with his vampire so decided to back down and returned to his chair. ‘So why are you here then?’

‘Willa…’ Nicole told him still with her guard up in front of Waverly. With Doc and Waverly being human she would be the only one that could fight and defend them. ‘Do you know where she is?’

‘Willa?’ He was surprised. ‘No, I don’t… she hasn’t been here for a few hours. I think I upset her.’ He looked at his vampire who also stood guard near him. ‘I did some unkind things didn’t I?’ The vampire looked awkward. ‘Yeah wise not to answer that.’ He looked back at the three in front of him. ‘I don’t like when people tell me I’ve been unkind. Makes me feel bad and I hate feeling bad.’

‘Do you know where she is Bobo?’ Waverly cried out impatiently.

‘Oh she speaks,’ Bobo sneered.

‘She might have taken something of mine…’ Waverly continued. ‘I want it back.’

Bobo looked very intrigued by this. He moved forward in his chair, ‘what has she taken?’

‘My guardian, Gus…’ Waverly answered now gripping onto Nicole’s arm to contain her emotion.

Sitting back in his chair, Bobo looked thoughtful, ‘now why would she…’ he came to the conclusion. ‘Oh clever girl…’ he smiled to himself. ‘Oh my clever clever girl…’

‘What do you mean Bobo?’ Nicole demanded.

‘Well… you took something precious of mine when you staked your sire…’ he looked up at ceiling as though he was telling the cave his thoughts. ‘And that was because of your love for this human…’ Waverly looked a little taken back by Bobo’s words but Nicole didn’t flinch. ‘… so she went after something she knew would hurt the human… something that would mean a lot to her…’ Cackling manically he sat back up. ‘Oh I love how her mind works.’

‘This because of me?’ Waverly whispered her voice breaking.

‘No Waves…’ Nicole said the horror written all over her face. ‘It’s because of me… I’m so sorry…’

Doc stepped up, ‘I think we better go… she’s not here… and something tells me he’s not going to tell us where she is even if he knows.’

‘Oh why?’ Bobo asked twisted pleasure written all over his face because of the horror on Nicole’s. ‘I was having so much fun…’

‘Come on Waves… we need to go…’ she sent Bobo one more disgusted glare before shepherding Waverly out of the cave in front of her after Doc. She looked back one more time at the demon sitting in his chair who was taunting her with a mockingly friendly wave.

‘Come back and visit me soon Nicole… we can talk about old times!’ came his call echoing through the cave wall and tunnel.

They were relieved when they had made their way out of the monument and into the night air. They allowed themselves a few moments to take in what Bobo had said. Nicole was guilt ridden and her face showed it. It caught Waverly’s attention.

‘Hey…’ she went over to the vampire who looked almost on the verge of tears. Waverly reached up and placed her hands on Nicole’s face, ‘this is not your fault okay… not your fault…’ It was clear that Nicole wanted to believe her. ‘You killed Shae to save me.’ She gripped Nicole’s arms tightly as she spoke. ‘Now you can’t fall apart on me…’ Waverly was unable to hold back her tears. ‘… because I need you so much right now.’ Waverly’s tears caused the interference in Nicole’s thoughts that she needed. Nodding, she placed a comforting kiss on Waverly’s lips and pulled her into an embrace.

‘Ladies, you head back to the house,’ Doc instructed. ‘I’m going to look around, see if I can see anything…’

‘Shouldn’t we help,’ Waverly asked turning out of Nicole’s arms.

‘No… you need to be back at the house… in case anything turns up from Wynonna or the police.’ Waverly and Nicole could see the sense in Doc’s words and nodded leaving him alone in the grave yard to begin to survey the area. He wondered if Willa would bring Gus anywhere close to the cave where she lived. He had only walked a few steps when something caught his attention.

Coming across the grave yard was a group of vampires heading towards the monument, presumably part of Bobo’s army. Quickly, Doc ducked behind a gravestone seeing that he was greatly outnumbered. As they walked past him, completely unaware of his presence he could hear their muffled voices getting a little clearer. At first he could only hear the male voices, but then when the female spoke, Doc stopped breathing.

 

There was no longer a feeling of welcome as Wynonna made her way through the white halls. Wynonna predicted as much but she didn’t expect it to feel quite as hostile as it did. Nearly every solider she passed, stopped and stared at her almost in shock that she was actually there. Soon, Wynonna began to avoid eye contact altogether as she made her way towards Lucado’s office. Considering their last conversation, Wynonna figured they were beyond knocking and proceeded to walk straight into the office.

Stunned, Lucado looked up from her paperwork, ‘oh you have got to be joking,’ she rose from her chair as Wynonna squared up to her on the other side of the desk. ‘I need to get that clearance revoked.’

‘Really?’ Wynonna laughed. ‘Because I tried to save a human?’

‘Because you interfered with government business…’ Lucado fumed.

‘Oh get over yourself!’ Wynonna cried. ‘You aren’t government; you are a freak show playing army in a field that you have no clue about. It is so much deeper and darker and more complex than you can possibly comprehend… and I will be there when you realise that.’ She looked Lucado up and down with disgust. ‘My watcher sent me here because we need your help. We have a human life that is out there in severe danger… which is what you guys deal with I believe…’ she mocked before turning serious again. ‘… but I can see that you’re just too busy playing God to really care about the work you’re supposed to be doing…’ shaking her head Wynonna made her way towards the door.

‘Wait…’ the tone was reluctant. At the door, Wynonna gathered herself before turning round to face Lucado. ‘You say a human is in danger?’

‘Yes… she might be being held by a demon… a vampire,’ Wynonna replied. ‘And this one you can kill.’

Lucado’s eyes brightened, ‘now I’m really listening.’ She walked out from behind her desk and beckoned for Wynonna to follow her. ‘Tell me more.’ As they exited the office, the looks of surprise that had greeted Wynonna when she was alone had changed to astonishment to see the commander and the slayer walking together.

Wynonna ignored them, ‘she’s called Willa…’

‘Woah…’ Lucado stopped walking causing Wynonna to stop a little startled. ‘Willa?’

Yeah?’

‘Oh this is getting interesting,’ she started walking again, this time with more purpose. ‘We have been tracking this vampire for months, but every time we get close she is surrounded too many vampires for us to take on.’ She turned a corner and headed towards the room filled with files. Once inside, she caught the attention of all working around the main table. ‘Agent Willis,’ a blonde girl looked up from what she was studying, ‘I need everything you have on the vampire Willa.’

‘Yes ma’am…’ she disappeared immediately amongst the shelves behind her.

 

Catching his breath back, Doc tried to reason with himself that he hadn’t heard what he thought he had. And he knew that there was only one way that he could find out. Slowly, his hand gripping his chest he rose to his feet, fully aware that he would be revealing himself to the group. In truth, he was willing to die in that moment just to get the answer.

His eyes settled on the back of the woman’s head as they moved towards the monument. There seemed to be no voice in his throat, until he cleared it and managed to call out, ‘Rosita!’ At the cry, the woman stopped walking and so did the vampires around her. Clearly, something familiar resonated in her. Slowly, she turned and Doc saw what he hoped was not true. ‘Oh god…’ he stumbled backwards needing the gravestone behind him for support so that he didn’t fall over.

From underneath her disfigured brow Rosita stared at Doc astounded, ‘Doc?’ she morphed her face back to human form as she stared at him. Their eyes burned into each other as silence descended over the cemetery. Behind her, the other vampires looked on just as confused.

‘No…’ Doc cried shaking his head. ‘No… you can’t be a….’ tears filled his eyes as every breath hurt.

Step by step, Rosita walked forward, ‘Doc… how are you…?’ She didn’t know what to make of the situation. She would have been feeling the same bewilderment and pain as Doc, however, she couldn’t as she did not have a soul. Instead she was simply bemused, remembering what she had once felt for the man standing in front of her. ‘Did someone wake you up?’

‘Stop there!’ Doc asked putting his shaking hands up. She was too close and it hurt too much. Whilst asleep he had dreamt of this moment and when he had been woken up all he had wondered was where she was. Now he wished that he’d never found out or had never been woken. ‘This is not how it was supposed to be.’

Rosita nodded, ‘I remember…’

‘Who…’ he found himself doubled over in pain completely overwhelmed, ‘who did this to you?’

‘Does it matter?’ Rosita asked flatly.

‘Of course it matters!’ Doc screamed into the air. Even the vampires behind Rosita looked shocked. ‘This is not how it was supposed to be!’ He marched forward but stopped out of reach from her. ‘So pray tell me… which foul thing did this to you?’ Spit flew from his mouth due to the pure force of his rage.

Rosita paused for a moment, she was taken back by his fury, ‘she goes by the name of Willa.’

‘Willa?’ he said in disbelief. ‘Why she is the foul thing I am in search of tonight for she has now brought pain to even more souls.’

‘Wow…’ Rosita blinked. ‘Small world.’

‘It is indeed,’ Doc agreed trying to find the strength to deal with everything in front of him. ‘And now there is even more of a reason to drive a stake through her heart.’ Unable to look at Rosita any longer knowing what she was, Doc began to make his way out of the cemetery.

‘You cannot take her on Doc,’ Rosita protested. ‘If the spell worked as we hoped back then, you are still only a man.’

Doc spun back, ‘don’t pretend to care for me Rosita,’ he snapped. ‘Because there is no soul in you.’

‘No…’ Rosita agreed. ‘But I remember how I cared…’

There were tears once again in Doc’s eyes as he stared at her, ‘remembering is not enough… it will never be enough. I gave up everything to wake up to the Rosita I knew and loved, one that would love me… instead, I wake to find you a demon… there is no salvation in this unjust world.’ He adjusted his hat and made his quick departure. Rosita watched him go. She wasn’t supposed to feel anything; there was no soul in her in which to help her feel. But as she watched Doc walk away a strange longing came over her, a longing that didn’t want him to go and cared that he would be alright.

 

Finally, the blonde haired girl appeared from behind the shelves carrying a stack of files and books. She brought them to the table and placed them as carefully as she could in front of Lucado.

‘Thank you Willis, is this everything we have?’ Lucado asked placing her hands on the pile.

‘Yes Ma’am, I’ve been researching her myself,’ Willis replied.

‘Then you are going to be very useful,’ Lucado said. ‘The slayer is here because Willa has taken someone very close to her. However they have no idea to what location she has been taken. What can you tell us about Willa that made aid in their attempt to get her back?’

A sparkle appeared in Willis’ eyes as she realised this was her opportunity to impress the commander. She stepped forward and searched through the pile to find a particular file. She opened it as she began to speak, ‘Willa was made in 1840 in New York. She lived there with her family of her parents and four sisters. She was stalked by the vampire that sired her.’ She looked up at Lucado and Wynonna. ‘This wasn’t a normal siring.’

‘How so?’ Wynonna asked.

‘Well usually vampires are impulsive and rash, they pick their victim quickly and it’s almost an instantaneous thing. But the vampire that turned Willa sought to drive her mad first,’ she flicked through the file to find the information she needed. ‘First the vampire killed her sisters, then it killed her parents. It was only when Willa went to a convent to seek sanctuary that the vampire decided to turn her.’

‘Why was the vampire so interested in Willa?’ Lucado pressed.

‘She was thought to have gifts,’ the agent told them. ‘Prophetic gifts, like she can see glimpses of the future. This was never proven but a lot of the journals and readings on Willa make reference to it.’

Wynonna sighed, ‘this is all useful but is there any indication about where Willa might take someone. Any particular places or buildings that have meaning to her?’

‘Not in Purgatory,’ Willis said shaking her head. ‘She only came here because of Bobo and she had to stay when he was trapped.’

‘There must be something?’ Wynonna pleaded desperately. ‘I’ll take any crumb, any clue because Gus is running out of time.’

Willis then looked thoughtful and raided the pile for another for another folder. Her fingers made their way down the words as she read them, ‘when she lived in New York, her family lived on the outskirts of the city, therefore her family had a barn. That’s where she found her sisters dead after the vampire had killed and posed them.’

‘A barn?’ Lucado checked.

‘I would say that if you found all of your sisters dead in a barn, that type of building would become very significant to you,’ Willis nodded.

‘It’s something,’ Wynonna acknowledged. ‘Is that everything?’

‘All I can think of right now,’ Willis said. ‘But I will keep looking and if I come up with anything else…’

‘We’ll be in touch,’ Lucado finished putting Willis back in her place.

‘Thank you,’ the slayer said it with sincerity as she moved to leave the room. Considering what had just gone on between them, Lucado could have thrown her out the moment she had walked into the commander’s office. At the door, Wynonna stopped and looked back at Willis. ‘Who was the vampire that turned Willa?’

Willis retrieved the file and looked for the name, when she found it she looked back at Wynonna, ‘she goes by the name Nicole.’

 

‘So don’t you want to know what your precious Waverly has been lying about?’ Willa asked as she sat across the barn from Gus again who remained tied up in the chair.

‘You can say what you want, I know my Waverly,’ Gus said with resolve.

Willa chuckled, ‘you really don’t my dear… you really don’t. In fact I think I probably know more about Waverly than you do…’ she licked her tongue across her lip. ‘Let’s start with the small stuff… do you know who she’s been dating recently?’

Gus looked bewildered, ‘why? Why are you…? What do you want from me?’

Irritated, Willa used her advanced speed to rush to Gus. The human stared at her mortified as Willa took her head in her hands again, ‘this… this is what I want… I want to see you squirm.’ She stroked her hand down Gus’ face, feigning kindness. ‘Now answer the question, do you know who Waverly has been dating recently?’

Gus searched her thoughts, ‘Perry… a young man called Perry.’

‘Oh poor Gus,’ she stood up again going back to her seat. ‘You’re so out of the loop… they broke up a few weeks ago; in fact Waverly hasn’t been interested in Perry for a long time.’ Gus just stared at Willa as the vampire continued to talk. ‘In fact… she hasn’t been interested in boys for a while now…’ she watched for Gus’ reaction. The human wasn’t going to give her anything. ‘Does that shock you?’

‘Is it supposed to?’ Gus shot back. ‘It’s the 21st Century.’

The vampire was a little irritated that the revelation hadn’t got the response she wanted but she stayed calm, ‘so it doesn’t bother you that she has been involved with a woman behind your back?’

Gus grimaced as another wave of pain hit from her injured shoulder, ‘she’s a teenager, half the stuff they do is behind adults’ backs.’

‘Not in my day,’ Willa snarled. ‘What Waverly is doing would have been seen as a perversion.’

‘Not my daughter,’ Gus said strongly staring in Willa’s eyes. ‘I will love her no matter what.’

Frustrated, Willa came off her seat again to get close to Gus, ‘then you are the fool… a stupid trusting fool.’

Gus remained unmoved staring into her eyes, ‘how do you know so much about Waverly?’

Willa smirked, ‘I make it my business to know… especially when someone is involved in our world.’

‘Involved in your world?’ To Gus, Willa was making less and less sense.

‘Waverly has known about my kind for a long time…’ nothing else had worked in trying to upset Gus, but she knew that she had one more card to play. ‘In fact… she is very very interested in my kind…’

 

‘Anything?’

Waverly couldn’t answer; instead she just looked up into Nedley’s eyes before rushing through the hallway and up the stairs.

‘Has Wynonna returned from the Initiative?’ Nicole asked making her way to the stairs after Waverly.

‘Not yet no,’ Nedley replied sadly.

As she passed to start the stairs, all three of them shared the same glum look. They had no answers, no clues and they were running out of time if it hadn’t run out already. Nicole turned her eyes away from them and continued up the stairs to Waverly’s bedroom.

‘Waverly, what are you doing?’

As she entered the room, Nicole’s eyes fell on a frantic Waverly as she opened her wardrobe and began throwing its contents out. She didn’t care where they went or whether they broke, she just had to get the chest at the back of the wardrobe. Once it was uncovered, she grabbed the handle with both hands and dragged it out onto the floor.

‘What’s this?’ Waverly didn’t answer; her thoughts were completely on the task at hand. It was as if Nicole wasn’t there. ‘Waverly…?’ She walked round and saw the contents of the chest. It was filled with magic books, ingredients, tokens and the things that Wynonna had given her to help her fight vampires. Nicole bent down trying to take it all in. ‘How long have you been collecting this stuff?’

Waverly finally stopped and glanced sideways at Nicole, ‘a while…’

‘And why do you need it now?’

‘I have to do something,’ Waverly said starting to take the books out of the chest to find the right one. ‘I have to do something to get her back…’ Her movements were rushed and clumsy. As she took a stack of books out of the chest they fell from her hands all over the floor. At the sight of them in a mess in front of her, Waverly couldn’t hold back the tears. ‘I can’t lose her Nicole… she’s the only family I have…’

‘Hey…’ Nicole felt like she could cry also as she took Waverly into her arms as they knelt on the floor. ‘It’ll be okay…’ she kissed Waverly gently on the neck. ‘Just tell me what you need me to do.’

Slowly, Waverly pulled away wiping her eyes, ‘I thought I could do a locator spell… I’ve never done one, but I’ve read about it and it looks quite easy…’ She began to pull ingredients out of the chest. Her hands were shaking as she did so. Reaching forward, Nicole took both Waverly’s hands in hers and kissed them trying to calm the human. Waverly looked up into the kind eyes that gazed down and took a deep breath.

‘You’ve got this Waves…’

Thoughts more collected, Waverly opened the book she needed and began to read. Nicole watched concerned but was prepared to support Waverly in whatever she needed. She watched as Waverly laid out a map of Purgatory on the floor, then mixed together some of the powder ingredients that she had in a small clay bowl. When she was ready, she sat cross legged in front of the map with the powder in her hand. She closed her eyes and wanted to begin, but stopped and glanced up at Nicole.

‘I’m sorry… can you…? I need to concentrate,’ she said it softly and with care and Nicole understood. She simply smiled at Waverly and walked out of the door closing it behind her. Once she was gone, Waverly closed her eyes. She knew the words as she had studied them carefully. All she had to do was speak them out loud and believe that she could do it.

 

Sluggishly, Nicole descended the stairs and walked through to the living room where the others were gathered. They looked as drained as she felt. No one was talking as no one had the answers that they all desperately needed. It had been hours since Gus had been taken. They had found out nothing and the police had found out nothing.

Behind her Nicole heard the doorway click as Wynonna came back into the house. The vampire backed up so that she could read Wynonna’s face clearly. It was steely and wary as the slayer’s eyes fell on the vampire.

‘Did you find anyth…?’ Nicole began but Wynonna rushed forward and punched Nicole across the face. In shock, the vampire stumbled backwards but did not retaliate.

‘You made Willa!’ Wynonna cried. Nicole’s eyes fell and her face was ridden with guilt. ‘You killed all her family, turned her mad and then sired her?’

‘I was not the person I am now,’ Nicole tried to remind her putting her hand to her bleeding lip. ‘I had no soul.’

‘You’re not a person Nicole,’ Wynonna spat. ‘You are a thing, a demon thing and it is because of you that Willa exists the way she is and because of you that she now has Gus.’ Nicole could not argue against this and turned to walk away into the kitchen. ‘Oh so you’re just going to walk away now?’

‘It is a part of my life which I hoped would not be uncovered!’ Nicole argued. ‘I’m ashamed of it and it haunts me every single day… but you know that I would never do anything like that now and if I could put it right, I would!’

Wynonna simply glared at her, ‘if Gus dies, there will be no putting this right Nicole and I will tell Waverly the truth if that happens.’

At this Nicole’s eyes were filled with fear, ‘she would hate me…’

‘As she should, you created this,’ Wynonna seethed.

‘Just give me the chance to finish it… just like Shae, I will happily kill any vampire or anything, no matter the connection or meaning to me, for Waverly,’ she stared into Wynonna’s eyes. The slayer could see the remorse in them. ‘I would even kill myself.’

‘That’s if I don’t get there first…’ Wynonna said with a lighter tone.

The words had barely left her mouth when they heard footsteps thundering down the stairs. Nicole expected them to then come into the living room or kitchen, but instead they travelled along the hallway and out of the front door. As Nedley and Jeremy appeared from the living room, they, Nicole and Wynonna looked amongst each other bemused before Nicole ran out of the house.

‘Waverly!’ she arrived outside just too late to see Waverly put her jeep in reverse and speed out of the driveway. ‘Waverly!’

‘What the hell?’ Wynonna asked joining her. ‘Where is she going?’ Nicole didn’t answer, instead she spun on her heels and ran back inside and upstairs with Wynonna following. When they burst into Waverly’s room, the spell and the map were still laid out on the floor. From the glowing speck on the map, Nicole could tell that it worked. ‘What did she do Nicole?’

‘She did a locator spell…’ Nicole moved forward and snatched up the map. The glowing speck dissipated but it left a burn mark on the map telling them exactly where to go. ‘She knows where Gus is…’

‘Is it location that would fit with having a barn?’ Wynonna asked.

Nicole studied the map and saw the dot burnt dot was located near an old farm on the edge of a field, ‘yes… why a barn?’

Wynonna’s eyes glowered at the vampire, ‘you should know the answer to that.’

‘Her sisters,’ Nicole said solemnly. ‘And now Waverly is walking into her trap…’

‘And she went off on her own. Jesus!’ She hit Nicole on the arm in anger before tearing out of the room. ‘Bring the map!’ she screamed as Nicole heard her footsteps banging down the stairs. Right now, the slayer’s feelings towards Nicole were of anger and repulsion but Willa was dangerous and she knew that Nicole would do anything to protect Waverly. It was that passion which Wynonna could use if she were to lose the fight against Willa.

As Nicole folded the map, she realised that her hands were trembling. She knew where Waverly had gone, she knew what Waverly was about to face and the vampire had never been more terrified.

 

‘How could you let her do this?’ Wynonna fumed as Nicole raced the car along.

‘I didn’t know she was going to run off on her own!’ Nicole protested. She had felt the slayer’s eyes burning into her from the moment they had got in the car.

‘No, you’re too busy looking at her through goo goo eyes to see anything properly…’

‘Goo goo eyes?’ Nicole asked mystified she swerved the car around a corner.

Wynonna looked between the map and the road they were taking, ‘you took the wrong turn!’

‘Well which way is it?’ Nicole demanded screeching the car to a halt.

‘Back there… you need to go back there,’ Wynonna shouted pointing. Quickly, Nicole swung the car round and took the correct road. Wynonna took a moment to steady herself as she glanced awkwardly at Nicole. ‘You’re letting your feelings for Waverly cloud your judgement… she should never have been left to do that spell by herself.’

‘You know what, how about I just let you blame this entire thing on me?’ Nicole cried getting very angry at Wynonna’s relentless tirade at her. ‘I created Willa, I let Waverly do the spell and then I let her leave the house on her own… according to you. I get you are upset Wynonna because trust me, I am right on board with you there… but attacking me with it all is not going to get our Waverly back.’ Wynonna stared at Nicole as she spoke realising the truth in her words. ‘We have to work together.’

Wynonna relaxed her shoulders a little and slumped against her seat, ‘you did leave her to do the spell…’ She said it more childishly to show Nicole that she had acknowledged what the vampire had said. It wasn’t just to blame Nicole for everything; it was just easy with all the emotions that the slayer was feeling.

Nicole calmed down too, ‘she asked me to leave Wynonna and I could not have predicted that she was going to just take off like that…’

‘She’s emotional Nicole, of course she was going to take off like that,’ Wynonna pointed out.

‘I just did what she wanted me to do…’ Nicole said her voice shaking. ‘If I thought for a moment she would…’ she paused to deal with the fear building up inside of her. ‘I would never have left the room.’

Studying the vampire, Wynonna forgot all the anger she was feeling towards Nicole and could see the way that she gripped the wheel and her jaw clenched. She calmed her voice, ‘you really love her don’t you?’

For a moment, Nicole couldn’t speak, she just stared ahead at the road. Then her voice was stern but soft, ‘I’ve never loved anything else.’

‘What about Shae?’

Nicole couldn’t help but laugh, just at the mere comparison ‘that wasn’t love, it was lust and desire pretending to be love… if I’d had to, I could have existed without Shae…’ she took her eyes off the road for a moment to look at Wynonna. ‘… I can’t exist without Waverly.’

As their eyes met briefly, Wynonna could see the honestly and sincerity in Nicole’s eyes, ‘neither can I…’ she agreed. She returned her focus to the map to check they were going in the right direction.

 

As Gus grimaced once again, Willa grinned in pleasure. There were now cuts on Gus’ face and chest where Willa had grown tired of words and was now exacting physical torture. Gus however, continued to resist and give into Willa the way that the vampire wanted to. She had not cried out, she had not screamed, she had clenched her teeth and stared into the cold eyes of the thing that hurt her.

‘You really are a tough nut Gus Gibson,’ Willa acknowledged licking the freshest blood off her finger nail. ‘I’ve told you that Waverly might be gay and totally involved in a dangerous world that you know nothing about and now I’m making you bleed and you’re still not giving in…’ she bit her lip happily. ‘You are the best kind… because you last the longest.’

Wearily, Gus stared ahead of her at the hay strewn across the old barn’s floor, ‘whatever you are…’ she whispered panting against her pain. ‘I pity you. A life of hurting others, getting pleasure out of other people’s pain, that is no life, no existence… and it’ll come back at you. You are a damned soul.’

At this Willa laughed manically and brought her face right up close to Gus’ once again, ‘see, that’s just the thing… the absolutely wonderful thing…’ she gripped Gus’ face squeezing it. ‘… I have no soul.’ Gus’ face dropped in horror.

‘Yeah… but you can still die!’

Stunned, Willa whirled round to look behind her as the barn door was thrown open. Waverly stood in the middle of it her face livid and her eyes glowing red.

‘Well, look who’s arrived… its little Waverly…’ Willa began as Waverly walked forward. Her hands were outstretched sideways from her body, black mist swirling in each palm. ‘And she brought some tricks!’

‘Waverly,’ Gus gasped. ‘My god…’

‘Sweet Hecatae, hear me and feed my wrath,’ Waverly muttered under her breath. ‘See the unclean thing and help me send it hell…’ she raised one hand and threw a ball of mist in Willa’s direction. It was a clean hit, burning the vampire on the shoulder. Willa screamed and stumbled backwards as Waverly advanced. Her chanting turned into another language as she threw another ball of mist at Willa. This time it struck the vampire on the chest causing her black dress to smoulder.

‘What are you doing Waverly?’ Willa asked trying to mock her as she winced in pain. ‘You’re in the big bad world now… how long do you think you can keep this up?’

Waverly wasn’t listening; she was focused on the spell that was giving her the tools to hurt Willa. Her eyes continued to glow red and it was as if her mind was on a different plane altogether. Soon she was standing in front of Gus, the mist continuing to build in her palms as she threw it at Willa. Each time she threw it, it sparked and burned ready to cause pain. Each one made a clean hit, burning another area of skin on Willa’s body. Soon, the vampire was struggling to stand up.

Then just as Waverly was about to throw one more when Willa was down on the ground, Waverly suddenly weakened and it was as if she could no longer control the magic pulsing through her. She tightened her jaw and focused her eyes but no matter how much strength she put into the words of the spell, she was no longer able to create the weapons she needed.

‘Oh dear…’ Willa scorned rising uneasily. ‘Looks like Waverly needs to go back to the children’s playground.’ She marched forward and struck Waverly across the face sending the young woman sprawling across the floor.

‘Waverly!’ Gus screamed mortified. With more impetus she tried to struggle out of the rope that held her hands, but just as she had done for the last few hours, it had no give.

Coughing in pain, Waverly tried to get to her feet, but Willa had her hands on her quickly. ‘Poor poor little Waverly,’ Willa sneered holding Waverly by the neck making it hard for the human to breathe. ‘Stepped into a fight she could not win… completely taking my bait… thank you for that.’ With an angry glare and only one hand, Willa threw Waverly across the barn so that her body made hard contact with the wall of the barn. The wood buckled with the force and the hay on the floor bounced as Waverly hit the floor. For a few seconds, she did not move. Blood poured from a cut on her eye brow and cheek as she dealt with the agony coursing through her body.

‘Don’t get up…’ Gus begged. ‘Don’t you get up baby girl.’

‘But she’s not your baby is she?’ Willa laughed horribly. She walked over and grabbed Waverly by the neck again. Gus was relieved when Waverly showed that she still wanted to fight as she gripped Willa’s trying to pry it off her. She gasped as Willa squeezed making it harder and harder for her to breathe.

‘Please… let her go,’ Gus implored tears streaming down her cheeks.

‘Why?’ Willa asked calmly. ‘She’s lied to you for so long? Lied about who she is, lied about who she’s dating…’ she had a thought which clearly delighted her. ‘Oh and about that… not only is she dating a woman… but the woman she’s dating…’

‘Don’t…’ Waverly pleaded in a barely audible gasp still fighting Willa’s grip around her throat.

Willa only revelled in this as she changed her face to its demon form, ‘is a vampire… like me. Now isn’t that a thing.’

Waverly stopped fighting Willa’s grip and looked at Gus. Gus could see Waverly was guilt-ridden, but the stranded woman could not hide her shock, ‘I’m sorry…’ Waverly whispered.

‘Well…’ Willa sneered looking at Waverly. ‘Now that everything is out in the open… you watch as I kill your guardian, before I kill you…’

‘Not if I kill you first!’ Waverly barely had time to register the voice, before she found herself lying on the floor watching Willa fly across the room and her body clattering into a pile of old rusty farm equipment. Waverly let this sink before looking up into Nicole’s eyes as the vampire picked her up off the floor. She wanted to relish the beautiful eyes that gazed at her but her thoughts turned to Gus. She looked over and was relieved to see Wynonna pulling the rope off Gus’ arms.

‘Oh look…’ Willa groaned from where she lay. ‘It’s my dear old sire.’

Nicole longed to rush forward and take on Willa, but she was too aware of Waverly weak in her arms, ‘I’m sorry Willa, I’m sorry that I did this to you.’

‘Why apologise?’ Willa grinned blood in her mouth from Nicole’s punch. ‘You certainly weren’t when we were tearing up the world together.’ Nicole’s face fell in shame at the words as Willa began to pull herself up. Waverly was too frail to take in and understand what was being said as she leant against Nicole.

Seeing that Willa was getting to her feet, Wynonna gently pushed Gus in Nicole and Waverly’s direction, ‘get them out!’ she ordered.

‘What about…?’ Nicole started gesturing to Willa.

‘Oh this bitch… is all mine,’ Wynonna snarled squaring up to her. She guarded Nicole, Gus and Waverly’s exit before she pulled her stake out of her pocket and posed right for the fight. ‘You are so going to be a pile of dust before this night ends.’

‘You think you can take me slayer?’ Willa sniggered.

‘With how pissed off I am right now… I could take you and all of Bobo’s bloody army.’

‘Bold claim.’

‘Care to test it?’ Wynonna challenged.

‘Until I pick the flesh of your bones!’

‘Ew…’

Willa advanced and the two women began to exchange blows. They ducked and spun as their arms met and parted with the smack of flesh against flesh. Wynonna twisted and tried to get an angle to strike Willa across the face but the vampire was fast and spun away. She kicked Wynonna in the back of the leg causing the slayer to buckle, but she recovered quickly and rolled away on the floor narrowly avoiding the stamp Willa wanted to inflict on her side.

‘Oh you’re going to have to be quicker than that,’ Wynonna said as the two circled each other.

‘Well how about this?’ Willa used ability as a vampire to be able to jump large distances. She closed the gap quickly by leaping into the air allowing her to kick Wynonna full in the face. Wynonna staggered backwards and was able to move out of the way just in time to avoid a fist to her cheek. Instead, Willa’s hand connected with the side of the barn and with the force of her punch, it went right through it.

‘I’m so glad that wasn’t my face,’ Wynonna muttered to herself. As Willa’s arm was caught in the barn wall, Wynonna grabbed it and twisted it. The vampire screamed out in pain but used her elbow to strike Wynonna in the neck so that she could wriggle free. The slayer coughed for a moment due to the impact but anger drove her on to grab Willa by the collar and throw her across the barn. The impact of the vampire against the wall caused the barn to begin to groan and the sound of snapping began to ring out around the fighting pair.

Willa groaned as she got to her feet, but she was still wearing a snarl on her face, ‘is that your plan?’ she asked viciously. ‘Bring the barn down on the both of us?’

‘Well… it’s made of wood… it hadn’t crossed my mind, but yeah, it would work.’

Having none of it, Willa charged at Wynonna who simply deflected her run upwards by ducking and punching the demon in the stomach. Willa’s body hit the beam above hard snapping it like a twig before she came back down to the ground with a sickening thud. Wynonna looked up around her seeing that the barn was beginning to creak more. She looked down and brought her hand under Willa’s head so she could look into the cold eyes that stared back ready to deliver another tirade of punches. She wasn’t ready to kill the vampire yet, she wanted to make sure she dragged it out and inflicted as much pain as possible for what Willa had put Waverly through.

‘The question is… can you kill me before the barn comes down on us both?’ Willa laughed. Wynonna looked up and saw exactly what Willa was talking about. The one main pillar standing in the middle was beginning to buckle under the strain a crack appearing down the centre. She was loathed to do so, but Wynonna realised she had no choice but to leave Willa sprawled out on the floor in the middle of the barn. She might not be able to deliver the killer blow, but she hoped the barn could do so.

‘At least you will die,’ Wynonna seethed. She smashed one final punch across Willa’s face before racing to her feet and tearing out of the barn. Outside, Nicole helped to drag her away as the barn fell down around Willa. The vampire caught one last glimpse of her creation lying on the floor of the barn before with a deafening smash, it caved in the timber frames crashing to the ground. Gus and Waverly clung to each other in Nicole’s car as they watched the barn become a pile of rubble. Once the last piece had fallen, all became quiet as the quartet stared at the devastation in front of them.

‘I hope the farmer wasn’t still using that,’ Wynonna said trying to joke with Nicole by her side.

Nicole didn’t look at the slayer, she could still feel the anger radiating off her, ‘I have a lot of stuff in my past Wynonna, a lot of stuff that if you knew it all you would want to kill me, if you don’t already. But you have to understand that no one feels worse about it than I do.’ Wynonna looked at the vampire as she stared at the destroyed barn. ‘I would gladly give my life to take back the things I’ve done.’

‘Then why don’t you?’ Wynonna asked a little coldly.

‘Because then how would I make up for it?’ Nicole said. ‘I believe that Doyle didn’t just send me here to protect you and to meet Waverly…’ she looked at the slayer so their eyes could meet. ‘I’m here for salvation. And I’m not looking for any prize. I just want to do good Wynonna. I just want to try… if you’ll let me? I can fight… and I will fight, beside you… in any way I can.’

Wynonna’s face softened as she accepted Nicole’s words, ‘you have to be honest with us Nicole, because anything else from your past lurks here that could put our people in danger, I have to know about it.’

‘Of course,’ Nicole agreed.

‘And you can’t be all I’m too ashamed and crap because we’re way beyond that now,’ Wynonna said sternly. ‘We got lucky this time that Willa is clearly a talker and not a doer meaning she kept Gus alive long enough for us to get to her.’

They studied each other, Nicole could understand Wynonna’s harsh expression. She looked at Waverly and Gus huddled together, knowing full well just how close it had been, then back at the rubble, ‘do you think she’s…?’

‘Only one way to make sure… you got a light?’

With one flick of the light onto the hay and whole barn was burning. They stood and watched as the flames rose high into the night sky. From the car, as Nicole lay in her arms, Gus watched the smoke as it covered some of the silvery half-moon which appeared between the clouds. Nicole and Wynonna’s figures became silhouettes against the bright orange glow of the fire. Their ordeal was over and Gus was safe.

 

Lying on her bed, Waverly gritted her teeth as Nicole cleaned up the wound on her head. Her strap top pulled up it revealed a nasty bruise on her stomach to add to the other injuries on her arms and face. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on something else than the pain. Once Nicole had taped a bandage to Waverly’s forehead she turned her attention to the bruise on her stomach and side. She took the bag of ice from the bedside table and placed it on the worst area of the injury. Waverly cried out and gripped the vampire’s arm.

‘Did I hear right?’ Waverly asked trying to ignore the searing agony of what was probably a broken rib. ‘Are you Willa’s sire?’ Nicole closed her eyes as she hoped that information had escaped her. Waverly let it digest for a moment. ‘Why didn’t you tell us?’

‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Nicole asked her face aggrieved. ‘I’m ashamed. If you knew everything I’ve done…’ her voice croaked due to the tears. ‘You’d probably never want to…’

‘Hey,’ Waverly gripped her arm a little tighter. ‘You didn’t have a soul then right?’ To this Nicole nodded still struggling to look at Waverly. Due to this, Waverly stretched and turned the vampire’s face so she looked at her. ‘Then how can I hate you for it?’

‘I hate myself for it…’

‘You’re putting it right Nicole,’ Waverly smiled stroking Nicole’s cheek tenderly. ‘I just need you to be more honest with me.’

Nicole was not going to disagree. She brought her free hand up to Waverly’s which was still against her cheek savouring its feel against her skin. ‘You nearly got yourself killed tonight…’ Nicole whispered her voice trembling. Waverly met her eyes but did not speak. ‘Do you have any idea how scared I was?’

‘I was just thinking about Gus…’

‘Which was understandable,’ she held her hand in place so that the ice remained where it was needed. ‘But things like this… you have to make sure you have help.’

‘I knew you’d find me…’

Nicole moved the ice away so she could move closer to Waverly carefully on the bed, ‘what if I hadn’t?’ Tears were beginning to appear in Nicole’s eyes. ‘What if Wynonna and I haven’t got to you in time?’ Affectionately, she brought her hand to Waverly’s stomach. The sight of the injury seemed to be causing her just as much pain. ‘Waverly, if you got hurt or…’

‘Shhhhhh…’ Despite the pain she was in, Waverly brought herself up awkwardly with a wince to sitting so that she could place a finger on Nicole’s lips to soothe her. ‘But you found me and I’m okay…’

‘I know…’ she allowed a smile to remember this. ‘But… I would die if anything happened to you.’

‘Me too,’ Waverly agreed as she held Nicole tightly.

They wrapped their arms around each other, their faces only inches apart. Nicole let the moment linger before she made sure she was looking deep into Waverly’s eyes, ‘I love you,’ she whispered.

Waverly found herself a little overwhelmed by the words. It felt as if all her breath was caught in her throat as the moment seemed to stop. The only thing she could think to do was to kiss the alluring lips that hovered in front of her own. The cut on her own mouth stung horribly, but it was if she was numb to it and it wasn’t there once her lips made contact with Nicole’s. It was a soft caress, but the feeling in it was clear for both of them.

Still a little breathless, Waverly pulled away and held their foreheads together, ‘I um… I…’ words were completely failing her due to the emotion caused by the ones she had just heard from Nicole.

‘It’s okay,’ Nicole assured her. ‘I’ve known for a long time how I feel,’ she stroked Waverly’s face lovingly being careful to avoid her injuries. ‘You’re still figuring it all out…’ She kissed Waverly again and could feel the young woman’s exhaustion as she did so. ‘You need to rest…’ Lightly, she helped Waverly to lie back on the bed and melt into the pillows. She kissed her hand and went to move towards the window but a gentle grip on her hand pulled her back.

‘Stay with me,’ Waverly asked with a longing gaze.

‘It’s going to be sunrise soon…’ Nicole chuckled lightly looking outside as the dark night sky was showing a tinge of lightness on the horizon.

‘We have time,’ Waverly smiled a little coyly. At this, Nicole couldn’t argue. Cautiously, she climbed over Waverly’s body and lay down beside her. Waverly unable to move from her back, Nicole turned herself onto her side so that she could face Waverly and stroke her cheek. With gentle fingers, she pulled the human’s top down to cover her injuries. Waverly moved the best she could so that her head nestled into the vampire’s shoulder.

‘I love you… more than I can say,’ Nicole murmured kissing Waverly on the forehead. Faintly, Waverly smiled at the feeling of the kiss and the sound of the words but fatigue took over and she slipped away into sleep. Nicole was not going to let herself sleep, she was not going to take her eyes off the woman she loved and almost lost for the entire time before the morning and the sun would force her to leave. Her fingers followed the path of a strand of hair near Waverly’s face before her hand came to rest on Waverly’s chest. She watched as it rose and fell with each of Waverly’s calm breaths. With her hand remaining in place, Nicole put her head down on the pillow, relishing every feeling against her palm that Waverly was alive and safe in her arms. She didn’t dare close her eyes; she didn’t want to lose sight of Waverly for even a second.

 

As the sound of birdsong floated in through the window, Waverly’s nose creased as she began to awake. Before she opened her eyes, she reached beside her but was not surprised to find the spot empty where she wanted Nicole to be. Sunlight flooded in onto the bed as Waverly squinted into it. Once she had enjoyed the sight of the morning, the memories of the night before and the pain hit her. She gritted her teeth as she pulled herself up into a seated position. It was then that she saw the note left on the other pillow.

‘You’re so beautiful when you sleep. I’ll see you tonight. N x’

Waverly smiled at the note and folded it back up as she cradled it protectively in her hand.

‘She slipped out so quietly, I wouldn’t have known she was here if I hadn’t been awake…’ came Gus’ voice from the door. ‘Something I guess, you two have got quite well practised.’

Swallowing nervously, Waverly watched as Gus walked towards her and could see that her face was also covered in cuts and bruises. ‘Gus I…’

‘You know the fact that she’s a woman doesn’t bother me. Your secret life doesn’t bother me…’ Gus cut in. ‘The fact that she’s a vampire really bothers me and the fact that you now fight them bothers me greatly, but do you know what bothers me the most?’ Waverly shook her head as Gus sat down on the end of the bed. ‘That you didn’t feel you could tell me.’

They looked into each other’s eyes, Waverly could see the hurt in Gus’, ‘I guess…’ she looked down at the note she was fiddling with in her hands. ‘I just didn’t know how. I mean, how do you say? Hey Gus, I’m now dating a woman, who’s a vampire that is over two hundred years old… oh and I fight them now with Wynonna who is a slayer along whatever other nasties decide to pop up in this town.’ Gus nodded understanding her point. ‘I mean, would you have believed me for a start?’

‘This town is full of crazy… I’ve been here a long time so I know there is something weird going on here. I wouldn’t have thought it too far-fetched.’ She placed a loving hand on Waverly’s leg. ‘Maybe you could have started with the fact that you and Perry weren’t together anymore. I didn’t even know that the two of you had broken up.’

‘I was scared…’ Gus said carefully. ‘Of how you’d react.’

‘Well I think you can understand the being very unsure of the vampire thing…’ Gus blurted out. ‘I mean wasn’t that the thing that just tried to kill me. If Nicole is one of them then you and I are going to have some serious disagreements about this relationship…’

‘She has a soul,’ Waverly told her. ‘So she is like Willa, a vampire with everything that comes with it, but with one difference, she doesn’t hurt people. She can’t. Like you and me she has a conscience and she cares… and…’ her mind stopped on the thought and she enjoyed it. ‘She loves me.’

‘And normal vampires can’t love?’ Gus asked trying to take it all in.

‘They can, but it’s not real love… not like Nicole can feel.’

Gus studied her adopted daughter, ‘and do you love her?’

Waverly thought about it for a moment and then nodded, ‘I think so… but it’s all very new and still a little confusing…’

‘That’s why you should have told me about it,’ Gus said squeezing Waverly’s leg with the hand that rested on it. ‘What did you think? I would throw you out of the house for liking a girl?’

‘I guess I wanted to figure out what it was before I told you… and then it had the added weight of who she is. I was very unsure for a long time,’ Waverly explained. ‘But she makes me happy. Being involved in this world with Wynonna makes me happy because we help people Gus. We save lives.’

Gus could see what it meant to Waverly by the twinkle in her eye as she spoke, ‘well I’m not going to pretend to like it… in fact, with what I’ve just experienced, I really don’t but I’m not going to stop you… you’re a grown woman who has to make her own choices.’ Waverly stared at Gus with adoration as she spoke. ‘You just promise to keep me more in the loop from now on. Now that I know more about what you’re up to these days I’m going to worry more. So you keep me filled in, you hear?’ With a little chuckle, Waverly nodded vigorously to agree. ‘And as for Nicole…’ Now Waverly looked a little scared. ‘Well, she played a part in saving mine and your life tonight... still, that’s going to take some getting used to because of what she is, something which I still don't quite understand…’ she softened her face. ‘But... I’m going to try.’ She took Waverly up in her arms in a gentle hug due to the discomfort they were both in. Waverly made her to hold Gus as tightly as she could. She knew she was very lucky to have someone who was so understanding in her life. ‘Oh and Waverly?’ Waverly nodded into her shoulder. ‘What on earth is a slayer?’


	15. Reptile Boy

 

Placing her hand on the door frame which sat ajar, Wynonna could see that some attempt had been made to make the house inhabitable. Some of the cracks in the walls had been filled up and some of the rubble that had been all over the floor had been cleared away. However, still without electricity and any kind of real insulation the place was dark and cold. As she moved into the living room, her eyes falling upon Doc in the corner, she could see that it was not just the house that was feeling dark and cold. Eyes glazed over, he stared blankly at the bottle of whiskey which sat in his lap.

The sound of Wynonna’s feet shuffling on the wooden floor caused him to looked up and see could see he had been crying. He stared at the slayer for a few moments before bringing himself to speak. ‘I found her,’ he wept.

Slowly, Wynonna made her way over and sat down next to the weeping man, ‘found who?’ She placed a hand on his arm concerned.

‘Rosita…’ he answered. Wynonna could only look at him confused as she assumed it would be a happy occasion. Doc caught her questioning expression. ‘She’s a vampire.’

‘She’s a vampire?’

Doc turned back to his whiskey and took a large swig, ‘I found her in the cemetery near Bobo’s cave… she’s one of his…’

‘Oh…’ she grabbed the bottle and took a large swig of whiskey for herself. She coughed at the taste, she’d never tasted alcohol like that before and it burned her throat. She handed it back to Doc quickly wiping her mouth.

Doc took it and had another gulp, ‘it was not supposed to be like this… we were supposed to go under the spell together, then get woken up so I could be cured and we could live like we were meant to.’ His faced creased in pain. ‘Now I’ve found the medicine I needed… but there’s no medicine that can save her.’

‘Do you know who?’ Wynonna asked carefully.

Sadly Doc shook his head, ‘I didn’t stick around to find out, seeing her like that was just too painful… it cut too deep.’

‘Maybe you need to,’ Wynonna suggested. ‘Maybe some revenge will make you feel better…’

Doc considered this for a moment, ‘it might well do…’ he took another swig and got to his feet. However, as soon as it did so the room spun wildly and an overwhelming sense of nausea overtook his body. Quickly, he sat back down again. ‘Maybe in the morning.’

‘Vampires don’t come out in the morning,’ Wynonna said with a gentle smirk.

Doc frowned, he should have known that, ‘tomorrow night then… gives me more time to drink.’ Wynonna refrained from rolling her eyes as Doc had another long swig of the liquor. She knew that if he carried on the way he was, he would be in no condition at all to be taking on any vampires.

 

Cupping the drink carefully, Waverly took the hot chocolate through to the living room where Gus was lying happily covered in blanket. She smiled with Waverly’s arrival and welcomed the hot drink. Waverly ensured that Gus’ blanket covered her adequately before she sat down in the little remaining space at the end of the sofa.

‘If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were after something,’ Gus said through a sideways glance whilst taking her first sip of the hot chocolate.

Waverly giggled at the idea, ‘no… nothing, I promise.’

‘Is Nicole hiding upstairs or something?’ Gus smirked bringing her drink to rest in her lap.

‘Is everything going to be about Nicole now?’ Waverly asked rolling her eyes. ‘And no, she’s not. She gave me the evening to look after you.’

‘How kind of her,’ Gus chuckled. Waverly gazed at her guardian so relieved that they were able to joke and laugh about it. Gus’ face still showed the scars of what had happened just a few days before. A nasty swollen cut still remained on her head and a clearing inflamed eye that was just beginning to go down. ‘I would like to meet her you know.’

‘Huh?’ Waverly had partly been distracted by Gus’ healing wounds and was partly wondering whether had heard Gus correctly.

‘I said, I would like to meet her… properly. Not whilst she’s helping to drag you and me out of a barn.’

‘You want to meet Nicole?’ Waverly checked. ‘Like over dinner?’

‘Isn’t that the normal thing for parents to do?’ Gus nodded after another sip of her drink. ‘You invite the girlfriend around for dinner… and I’m not a bad cook…’

‘It’s a nice idea,’ Waverly began. ‘But there’s one problem…’ She paused as Gus looked at her puzzled. She used the pause to work out exactly how to say the next bit. ‘… Nicole doesn’t eat… food.’

To this Gus frowned, ‘what do you mean she doesn’t eat food? Everyone eats food…’ as soon as the words left her mouth she caught on. ‘Oh… unless… you’re a vampire as they.. don’t… eat.. food.’ Pressing her lips together, with wide eyes, Waverly nodded as the realisation hit her guardian. ‘I see… well, what do I cook then?’

‘How about we forget food?’

‘Good idea,’ Gus agreed relieved to not have to think about what to cook that involved blood. ‘Just drinks then… she does drink doesn’t she?’

‘Yes, vampires can drink,’ Waverly sniggered amused.

The conversation made Gus really begin to understand exactly who her daughter was dating, ‘Waverly, there is a big part of me that isn’t okay with this…’ she sighed knowing it would be difficult for Waverly to hear. It was; she could see it on the young woman’s face. ‘This isn’t normal…’ Waverly looked away afraid of where Gus was going. However, Gus leaned forward and took her hand, ‘but I trust you young lady, you’ve always been a sensible girl and if you say she’s good, then I believe you.’

‘She is good,’ Waverly assured her. ‘I wouldn’t be with her if she wasn’t.’ Gus watched as Waverly’s thoughts drifted off to think about that very vampire. She could see that her adopted daughter was happy and therefore she was. Quietly, the two drifted into a comfortable silence; something very welcome after the events a few days before.

 

‘She’s a vampire?’ Dolls asked raising his eyebrows surprised.

‘Yup,’ Wynonna said as they moved through the cemetery. ‘Can you imagine? He risked that spell and his life so that he could wake up next to the woman he loved and find a spell to cure his fatal illness… only to discover not only that she wasn’t there but is actually in fact a vampire…’

‘Yep, I imagine that would suck,’ Dolls agreed.

Wynonna stopped walking so she could face him, ‘and do you know what my biggest fear is?’ Dolls looked blank. ‘Nicole has something to do with this.’

‘You think that Nicole sired Rosita?’ Dolls checked.

Wynonna halted her thoughts before she spoke, ‘I’m probably jumping to conclusions.’

‘Probably,’ Dolls agreed. ‘She was prolific when she had no soul but she didn’t sire every single vampire you will ever come across.’ Wynonna avoided his eye contact feeling a little guilty at the assumption. ‘But it’s understandable…’ Dolls went on stepping up to her. ‘… considering what you went through. You nearly lost Waverly and Waverly nearly lost Gus.’

Wynonna looked up into his eyes, ‘I just don’t know how to feel about her… every fibre of my being is telling me she is vampire and therefore I should kill her…’

‘But you know you can’t. You know it’s more complicated than that.’ Wynonna avoided his eye contact as she accepted that he was right. ‘In the fight we’re in, we need all the help we can get.’

‘Speaking of fights,’ Wynonna said bringing her eyes back to his. ‘How’s yours going with The Initiative?’

They began walking again as Dolls let out a dejected sigh, ‘I’m still suspended pending the investigation. I’ve tried to reach out but no one is taking my calls.’

‘Can you blame them? You disobeyed Lucado, for all the right reasons… the commander and chief on high. In army terms that’s pretty much blasphemy…’ After the last word had left her lips the pair heard a crash and a groan coming from behind a dividing wall not far from them. ‘What was that?’

‘Goddam it!’ came an enraged cry. ‘You filthy fiend!’

‘That doesn’t sound good…’ Dolls beckoned for Wynonna to follow him around the gravestones to where they could scale the wall safely. As they did so they heard another crash and sickening cry of pain. ‘Here, let me help you.’ Dolls put his hands out for Wynonna to use as a leg up over the wall. As they went to try the first time, Wynonna’s foot slipped out of his grip and he had to catch her. As he did so, their faces came to rest only a few inches apart. Dolls felt it and Wynonna felt it as they gazed into each other’s eyes.

Wynonna couldn’t help but linger there for a moment placing her hands on his shoulders, ‘you going to help me up or just stare at me solider?’ she smirked flirtatiously.

‘I’d like to just stare at you but…’ he chuckled back as he wrapped his hands around her foot again and another cry pierced through the air. ‘… I guess duty calls…’

‘You know I don’t really need you to give me a leg up?’ Wynonna laughed.

‘I know,’ Dolls acknowledged as he straightened his arms allowing her to reach up and catch the top of the wall with her hands. Using her power, she easily propelled herself over the top of the wall landing gracefully on the other side. Dolls blinked at the display wishing he could do the same. ‘I guess I’ll walk round then…’

 

Looking around, Wynonna’s eyes fell upon what had been causing all the noise. In the middle of the separate section of the cemetery Doc was attempting to take on a vampire, but instead was sustaining a serious pummelling. As the vampire brought his hand back to strike Doc across the face, Wynonna took off and was beside the demon within seconds. Angrily, the vampire growled as his punch was stopped from connecting with the intended target.

‘Your fun time is over,’ she sneered pushing him back. She took the time to look back at Doc who was clearly blind drunk as he could barely stand his face covered in blood. ‘What the hell are you doing?’

‘This is no business of yours Wynonna,’ he snapped.

‘You’re a human who was about to get killed by a vampire… as a slayer, I would say that YES this is exactly my business!’ she glared at him unimpressed before turning back to the advancing dead woman who bared her teeth as she approached. With a swift high kick the slayer had her on her back on the floor. She barely had time to react before there was a stake in her heart and she was a pile of dust on the floor. Wynonna payed no attention to it as she returned her focus to Doc. ‘Seriously, do you want to get yourself killed?’

Doc looked at her through heartbroken eyes, ‘in that fight, kill or be killed, either one would have been satisfactory.’

Gazing at him, Wynonna could see the pain he was in, ‘do you think Rosita would have wanted this?’

‘It’s because of her that I’m doing this,’ Doc cried barely able to stand. ‘I will kill every filthy blood sucking demon that walks this Earth and then by God, I will somehow find the strength in me to kill her for what she is.’

Wynonna walked up to him and placed her hands on his face, ‘not before you get yourself killed… and I will not let that happen.’

‘Don’t pretend to care for me Wynonna,’ he scoffed taking his eyes away from her. ‘There is nobody left in this world now who cares for me.’

‘Hey!’ gently she struck him across the face. ‘You need to shut up!’ Doc’s eyes went wide with shock. ‘I do care about you. You looked after me when I was sick in the hospital. You fought by my side. I regard you as a friend Doc…’ she placed her back on his cheek carefully due to his wounds. Doc forced himself to look back at her. ‘… you’re one of us now Doc and I will not have you killing yourself over this.’

Doc couldn’t find any more words. Instead, his face creasing up with pain he dropped his head so that it rested on Wynonna’s shoulder. Concerned as she heard him sob, Wynonna brought her arms around him and could only hold him as he wept.

From afar one pair of eyes had watched on from the moment he had walked around the wall. The sight of Wynonna consoling Doc and taking him into her arms had caused Dolls to stop where he was and keep the distance. As her hands had found his face Dolls had felt it begin to build up inside him. Clenching his teeth he did all that could to stop it from rising up again, but the emotion was simply too much and before he could control it, his eyes were glowing red again.

 

Nicole had barely opened the door before Waverly was in her arms. Laughing into the kisses that greeted her, the vampire stumbled back and it took a few steps before she could catch her balance.

Overcome, she pulled away to smile at Waverly, ‘well hello to you too,’ she walked around the human so she could close the door. Waverly watched her go admiring her figure in the tight black jeans and purple tank top. She found herself biting her lip and couldn’t stay on the other side of the room. As soon as Nicole had turned from closing the door her back was against it as Waverly was in her arms again.

The young woman’s hands usually remained on Nicole’s face or neck but this time they found themselves wandering down to the vampire’s sides, grasping at her hips and pushing up underneath the figure hugging top. Nicole gasped audibly at the touch and at the feel of Waverly’s kisses leaving her mouth and beginning a path down her neck.

‘Wow… this is um…’ Nicole tried to say. ‘Different…’

‘I feel it’s a very good way to say hello…’ Waverly whispered in between kisses.

‘I couldn’t agree more…’ Nicole grinned. She grabbed Waverly’s body and spun her round so Waverly was now pressed against the door. The vampire then found her hands and pressed them up against the door above Waverly’s head. Waverly could feel Nicole’s power as she did so. Nicole leaned in as though she was going to kiss Waverly and Waverly prepared herself to accept Nicole’s lips, accept they stopped painfully close. Nicole studied Waverly’s face as if trying to deduce an answer from her, ‘but why do I feel like you’re up to something?’

Waverly tried to keep a straight face, ‘can’t I just be happy to see my girlfriend?’

With a smile, Nicole put both Waverly’s wrists in her right hand and kept them in place whilst her other stroked down Waverly’s arms to her lips, ‘you can, you absolutely can… but I know you Waverly Gibson…’ now Waverly was both overwhelmed by Nicole’s touch and with trying to hide what Nicole had correctly figured out. ‘… you’re definitely up to something…’

Waverly sighed, Nicole did indeed know her too well, ‘Gus wants you to come over for dinner… or drinks, if you do drink? You drink right?’ With an amused look, Nicole let Waverly go. The young woman ducked under the vampire’s arms to move into the apartment. ‘She wants to say thank you for helping to save her life and I guess do the parent thing…’ Waverly looked a little mortified. ‘I hate it when she wants to do the parent thing.’

‘It’s nice,’ Nicole smiled.

‘It’s embarrassing…’ she walked back up to Nicole and placed her hands on Nicole’s arms. ‘I liked having you all to myself.’ With one hand she reached up and traced her fingers across Nicole’s collar bone and the skin on her exposed chest. ‘To have something that was… mine.’

‘Well I am…’

‘What?’

‘Yours.’

Waverly let that linger along with their eyes. ‘And you’ll meet Gus?’

‘Of course,’ Nicole nodded.

‘Great,’ Waverly sighed her face dropping away from Nicole’s. ‘Let the embarrassment ensue…’

‘But until then…’ Nicole said bringing Waverly’s face back with one finger under her chin. ‘… you have me all to yourself…’ That brought a smile back to Waverly’s face as their lips found each other again.

Carefully, Waverly began to walk backwards leading Nicole towards the bedroom. Wrapping her arms around Waverly’s waist, Nicole let Waverly guide her in. When the back of her legs hit the bed Waverly paused to look up into the vampire’s eyes before she sat down pulling Nicole with her. Her tongue leading, Waverly brought their lips together again. Nicole happily welcomed it and responded with her own. After a few kisses, Waverly let her hands find the bottom of Nicole’s top and pulled it up and over the vampire’s head. Nicole hid her surprise at the move as Waverly’s lips were back on her own. She waited a few moments before her fingers found the edge of Waverly’s shirt. She pulled away with a questioning look. She had to make sure. A little nervously Waverly nodded but she smiled, enough to reassure Nicole. Soon, Waverly’s shirt was also over her head and on the floor beside Nicole’s discarded top.

Their eyes burned into each other as Nicole lay Waverly back on the bed slowly lowering her body down on top of her. Waverly let out a little gasp as she felt the full weight of the vampire’s body press down. Bracing most of her weight with her arms Nicole took Waverly’s mouth in a powerful kiss which left Waverly momentarily breathless. Nicole let her recover before taking her kisses to Waverly’s neck and chest. Although less powerful than the one Nicole had left on Waverly’s lips their effect was the same, they left the human panting softly. As Nicole’s lips trailed over her chest and down her stomach, Waverly realised that her panting was becoming more intense due to uncertainty.

Gently, she cupped Nicole’s face to stop its movement, ‘wait…’ she exhaled.

Nicole looked up concerned, ‘you okay?’

Waverly looked almost apologetic, ‘I… I don’t know if I… I’m ready,’ she said nervously. She avoided Nicole’s eyes, ‘I’m sorry…’

‘Hey,’ Nicole quickly brought her face back up to meet Waverly’s and used her hand to tenderly bring it back to look at hers, ‘you don’t ever have to apologise.’ There was more comfort in Waverly’s eyes, but her expression didn’t change from guilt. ‘Listen, I love you… whatever we do is just fine…’

This brightened Waverly a little, ‘really?’

‘Of course.’

‘I just…’ Waverly looked a little awkward again. ‘I’ve never…’

‘Not even with…’ Nicole asked carefully, she shifted her body position so she was now lying next to Waverly but kept her arm rested on Waverly’s chest so she could cup her face. Waverly gratefully accepted this and held her arm tightly.

‘No,’ Waverly replied. ‘I mean, we did stuff… but not… that.’

‘It’s nothing to be ashamed of…’ Nicole told her stroking her cheek.

‘But you’ve probably…’ Waverly started.

‘Hey…’ Nicole pushed herself up closer to Waverly so their faces were nearly touching. ‘What I have done in the past doesn’t matter. What matters is just being here with you. You know that compared to you, she meant nothing.’ She smiled as Waverly turned her head so their foreheads could press together. ‘I have felt more with you in these past weeks and months than I did in a hundred years with her.’

Waverly was stunned by this admission for a moment she felt like all the breath had been taken out of her. She gathered herself enough to turn onto her side so she could wrap her arm around Nicole more easily. ‘I think I…’

‘You think…?’ Nicole teased knowing what Waverly was going to say.

‘Yeah… I think….’ Waverly chuckled back. ‘I’ve never felt it before so…’

‘Then don’t say it yet,’ Nicole said placing her finger on Waverly’s lips. ‘Wait until you know… for sure. I don’t want you saying anything just because you think the moment needs it.’ She moved in and kissed Waverly lovingly. ‘I don’t want you to regret anything.’

‘I don’t regret anything when it comes to you,’ Waverly whispered into Nicole’s mouth.

‘Let’s keep it that way,’ Nicole whispered back before their lips could no longer stay parted. This time Waverly pushed Nicole back on the bed so that she could lay her body down on the vampire. The feel of Nicole’s hands on her bare back was exhilarating. She moaned into it and into all the caresses that were to come.

 

‘Earth to Waverly!’ at the harsh voice Waverly snapped out of her daydream and looked up at the amused face of Wynonna. Sitting in the school courtyard, Waverly had found her mind wandering into the arms of a vampire whose apartment she had barely been able to leave in the early hours of the morning. ‘Jesus Waves, that was like my fourth attempt to get your attention… where the hell are you at?’ She sat down on the end of the bench by Waverly’s feet. The human could only smile and avoid the slayer’s eyes. ‘Oh dear Lord…’

‘She just couldn’t be any more perfect Wynonna…’ Waverly said wistfully.

Wynonna rolled her eyes, ‘no clearly not.’

‘We nearly…’ to this Wynonna raised her eyebrows almost expectantly. ‘… but I didn’t want to… and she was so lovely about it…’

‘Well I should hope so too and she better keep that up. She has to wait until you’re ready,’ Wynonna agreed sternly raising a finger to Waverly to emphasise her point.

‘She’s coming to dinner this evening… Gus wants to meet her.’

‘Oh, wow,’ Wynonna blinked. ‘How I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that one.’

Waverly looked worried, ‘what do you mean?’

‘Meet the parents,’ Wynonna giggled. ‘It’s like one of life’s favourite practical jokes. It doesn’t matter who you are, it’s a squirmfest. Nicole might have fought demons, been through personal hell when she got her soul, lived with the torture of her guilt for over one hundred years, but nothing… nothing… will compare to meeting a protective parent.’

‘Thanks Wynonna… I feel so much better now,’ Waverly retorted.

Wynonna couldn’t help but laugh, ‘no seriously, it’ll be fine…’

‘How do you know?’

‘Because she loves you, she knows what it means and Gus is cool,’ she placed a comforting hand on Waverly’s arm. Waverly’s face softened, a little comforted by the words. The sound of panting distracted them as they looked round to see Nedley and Jeremy running up to meet them. Both looked worried like they had bad news. ‘Oh boy… who ate the last biscuit out of the Nedley’s secret stash?’

‘How do you know about my…’ Nedley began then realised that it wasn’t important at all. ‘Hell’s Gate Bar… it’s been burnt to the ground…’

‘Well you know name it something stupid like that, it’s bound to come back at you,’ Wynonna quipped.

Nedley wasn’t impressed, ‘luckily everyone got out Wynonna,’ he said firmly with a glare. ‘But there were reports of a something breathing fire…’

‘To anyone else that would seem weird,’ Waverly said sitting up. ‘A normal day in our world.’

‘Something breathing fire?’ Wynonna asked. ‘Like a dragon?’

‘Any blonde haired women?’ Jeremy piped up. They all looked at him dumfounded. ‘What? If we have a dragon we might have the dragon lady. You’d like her Waverly, she’s often without clothes…’

Wynonna rolled her eyes at the endearing dorkiness of Jeremy before turning back to Nedley, ‘I guess we’re in research mode huh?’

‘We are indeed. Jeremy, I want you to go to the scene and see what you can find out. Use that brain and now very useful nose of yours.’ Jeremy saluted from his nose playfully acknowledging his command. ‘Waverly and Wynonna you’re with me, we’re going to see what we can get from news reports to try and deduce whatever this thing may be… then tonight Wynonna you patrol in case whatever this thing is rears its ugly fire breathing head again.’

As Nedley began to make his way back to the library the others began to follow. Waverly scuttled her way to Jeremy’s side, ‘I’ll have you know Jeremy that I only have eyes for one woman… so this blonde dragon lady wouldn’t interest me…’

‘Oh my dear Waverly, this dragon lady interests everybody…’ Jeremy laughed as they made their way back into the school.

 

The walls were ash and crumbling and barely resembled the home that they had once created. Where pictures had hung were only charred shapes. Any metal in the apartment was bent and twisted as it had melted and reformed. Everything had been burnt and scorched beyond recognition.

Standing in the middle of it all, eyes glowing and forehead ablaze, Dolls could not control what was within him. As he growled and breathed deeply smoke blew from his mouth and filled the room. However it did not affect him. As soon as one cloud of smoke had cleared another took its place. Trying desperately to control what was boiling inside of him, he clenched his fists and roared but it took over again. His eyes only glowed brighter and with more intensity. He had been without his medication from the Initiative for too long and he had not asked for help. How he was living to regret it as the demon within tightened its grip on what humanity was left inside him.

 

Leaning back against the shelves, Waverly and Wynonna enjoyed the seclusion of the books and furniture around them. Like it was rehearsed, back in the main area of the library Nedley and Jeremy were firing ideas back and forth between each other as Nedley searched his books and Jeremy’s fingers worked his laptop and the web. Jeremy had been to the scene of the fire but everything was burnt so badly that all traces of whatever had caused that would detectable for his werewolf senses were gone.

‘They should have been father and son,’ Waverly had joked as the girls walked away to get a little peace as they scoured the books hidden at the back of the library.

‘You doing okay? Other than being completely infatuated with a vampire. You know, since the whole Willa thing,’ Wynonna asked closing one book and picking up another. ‘How’s Gus doing?’

‘She’s fine,’ Waverly replied looking away from her own book. ‘Still a little shaken I think. She hasn’t returned to work. I still feel really guilty.’

‘Why?’ Wynonna frowned.

‘Nicole killed Shae for me and Willa was angry because of that…’

Wynonna just stared at her friend, ‘you’re an idiot, do you know that?’ she said lovingly placing a hand on Waverly’s arm. Waverly couldn’t help but laugh. ‘We’re dealing with demons, which most of the time make no damn sense at all. Willa is a psychotic soulless vampire who is completely insane. We need to remember the facts, you’re okay, Gus is okay and Willa is dead.’

‘It sometimes bothers me though… Nicole’s past,’ Waverly went on. ‘There’s so much she’s done and…’

‘Waverly,’ Wynonna cut in with a smile squeezing her friend’s arm. ‘Everyone has demons in their past. Yes, Nicole’s are a little more literal than most, but everyone has them. Everyone has done stuff. You’ll never date anyone if you want them to be squeaky clean.’ Waverly nodded half-heartedly. ‘It’s the world we live in. Hell, I’m currently interested in a dragon man and looking after an ex-ice demon whose love of his life is now a vampire. I think you’ve got it easy!’ She slumped back against the shelf behind her looking a little dejected.

‘You still interested in Dolls?’

Wynonna’s expression became a little dreamy as a smile curled onto one side of her mouth, ‘there’s just something about him. I like that he’s dangerous y’know?’ Waverly chuckled as she knew it well. ‘We do pick them don’t we?’

‘The heart wants what it wants,’ Waverly shrugged. ‘Mine wants a two hundred year old vampire and yours wants a dragon man.’

‘God we sound like something out of a comic…’ she looked up and saw that the sun was beginning to go down outside. ‘Is that the time?’ She blinked and checked her phone. ‘Damn, in about four hours of research we found absolutely nothing.’

Waverly also checked her phone, ‘oh crap!’ she jumped to her feet seeing that it was nearly six. ‘Nicole will be arriving at seven to meet Gus!’

Rising to her feet Wynonna couldn’t help but chuckle, ‘you’ll have to let me know who it goes,’ she softened her face when she saw the concern on Waverly’s face. ‘It’ll be fine.’ Together they made their way back towards the main area of the library where Jeremy was glaring at his laptop and Nedley was throwing another book aside.

‘No luck either?’ Wynonna asked.

‘No, too much luck… do you know how many creatures, demons or monsters throughout time have been able to take on a human like form and breathe fire?’ All the teenagers looked blank at Nedley. ‘354… all of which have very different characteristics, different ways to be killed and very different motives and desires. I can’t possibly prepare you for all of them Wynonna.’

‘I think you under estimate our slayer there Nedley,’ Waverly quipped with a smile as she grabbed her coat and bag. ‘I’ll see you later.’ Wynonna gave Waverly too supportive thumbs up as the human made a quick exit out of the library.

‘Maybe I should patrol?’ Wynonna suggested turning back to her watcher. ‘If it’s still out there maybe I can catch a glimpse of it and see exactly what we’re dealing with?’

‘I think that’s the best idea,’ Nedley agreed sighing. ‘Be careful… of all the creatures I’ve come across, only a few have been defeated. It could be very dangerous.’

‘Dangerous should be afraid of me my man…’ Wynonna grinned as she followed Waverly’s path out of the library shrugging on her black leather coat.

Nedley looked back at Jeremy once the slayer had disappeared out of the door, ‘sometimes her over confidence alarms me,’ he said. He looked down at his piles of books and realised that none of the answers he needed were in any of them. He remembered a stash in his office so made his way back into the small room to scour their pages. Jeremy looked back at his laptop searching is brain for something new to search that might turn up some answers. As he did so, he heard the library door open again. When he looked up, he was surprised to see Pete coming into the library.

‘Hi,’ Jeremy breathed out.

‘Hey,’ Pete replied nervously. Jeremy found himself rise out of his chair to greet Pete on the same eye level. He felt very on edge and almost guarded in the presence of the other werewolf. ‘How are you?’

‘Fine… I’m fine…’ Jeremy said. ‘You?’

‘As good as expected I guess,’ he shrugged. He avoided Jeremy’s eyes for a moment then forced himself to meet them with his own again. ‘I came to remind you that it’s…’

‘A full moon in two days,’ Jeremy interrupted. ‘I know. I’ve marked my calendar…’

‘Oh okay, that’s… good…’ he cleared his throat and looked at the cage to his left. ‘You going to go in there or…’

‘Probably,’ Jeremy nodded. A smirk then appeared on his face, ‘I was thinking of building a purpose built cage with swings and climbing gear and ropes and stuff in my garden…’

Pete laughed, relieved that Jeremy was showing his sense of humour again, ‘you will just tear them down… I destroyed my climbing frame and scratch post…’

The two gazed at each other, both feeling the tension between them loosen a little. Jeremy was still angry at Pete; he could feel it, but not nearly as strongly as he had before. ‘You going back to your chains?’

‘No, I ripped those apart when you were going through your first phase and I think…’ he paused nervous. ‘… I think I’ll sense you again so I can’t rely on them. I’ve found an abandoned monument in the cemetery which goes underground. It’s stone, contained and has a strong metal door which I can lock. I don’t think I’ll be able to get through it.’

‘Sounds pretty safe to me,’ Jeremy agreed. ‘This cage should hold me so I’ll try it again.’ He looked back down at his laptop remembering that he did have important work to do.

‘What are you up to?’ Pete asked seeing Jeremy’s attention switch.

‘We have a fire breathing beasty in town,’ Jeremy told him as he sat down. ‘Wynonna is out now patrolling to see if she can see anything and my job is to try and find out what we could be dealing with.’

‘Do you need any help?’ Pete asked.

Jeremy looked up at him surprised, ‘oh surely you have better things to do?’

‘Like what? Homework? Hanging out with myself?’ Pete laughed. ‘Trust me, this sounds way more interesting.’ He moved a chair next to Jeremy and sat himself down so he could also see the screen. Jeremy gazed at him for a moment, then collected his thoughts and looked back at the screen. He noticed that his fingers were trembling and clenched his fists gently to try and stay them and hide his nerves from Pete. Unknown to him, Pete had already noticed and was feeling exactly the same way.

 

The sound of the knock at the door caused Waverly’s stomach to lurch. She’d been sitting in the living room barely moving whilst Gus sorted glasses and drinks in the kitchen. At the first tap, Waverly jumped to her feet and scrambled to the door determined to get there before Gus.

Pulling it open her heart melted when she laid her eyes upon Nicole who looked very different to normal. Instead of the usual black leather, she was in blue jeans and a white top. Her black leather jacket had been changed to a light brown one and in her hands she was carrying a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Waverly was stunned, ‘you didn’t have to…’

‘Of course I did,’ Nicole smiled.

The two shared a soft kiss before Waverly backed up to allow Nicole to step inside. Taking Nicole’s hand and entwining their fingers helped Waverly to relax a little, ‘Gus… Nicole’s…’

‘Here?’ Gus said appearing from the kitchen. ‘Unless we have any other callers expected this evening, I had worked out who our visitor was,’ she said kindly as her eyes fell upon the couple.

‘These are for you,’ Nicole said handing them over.

Gus’ eyes widened, ‘wow… they’re lovely, thank you,’ she turned them over in her hands admiring all the beautiful colours. ‘Come through please…’ she gestured to the kitchen and led the way. Both Waverly and Nicole shared a nervous look before following her. Gus placed the flowers on the kitchen side and went about gathering together some glasses. ‘Now, help me Nicole… what do um vamp… your kind drink?’

Chuckling, Nicole sent an amused look to Waverly as Gus’ back remained turned, ‘whatever you have got is fine.’

‘Wine, beer, whiskey?’ Gus asked. ‘I had to buy a new bottle recently as the previous one disappeared…’

Waverly covered her mouth to stop the laugh, Nicole remembered well that it had been Waverly the day that she had found out what Nicole was. ‘Wine sounds great.’

‘Red?’ Gus asked turning round. As soon as she did, Waverly and Nicole turned their faces back to normal with no hint of amusement on them.

‘Perfect,’ Nicole deadpanned managing to keep her face completely stoic.

Gus nodded at the request, ‘take a seat… I’ll just choose one from the basement…’

Once she was out of the door, Nicole and Waverly turned to each other, ‘I can’t believe you drank the whole thing that night,’ Nicole laughed.

‘I had to,’ Waverly protested. ‘I was dealing with a lot of stuff!’

‘Stuff you’re okay with now though right?’ Nicole asked flirtatiously moving a little closer.

Waverly caught her drift and stepped towards the vampire also, ‘absolutely…’ the word had barely left her lips before Nicole’s were on them. The force of the kiss caused Waverly to stumble back but Nicole’s arms were wrapped around her back to hold her steady. Heavy breaths were exchanged between their mouths as the kisses became deeper. As the intensity built between them, neither of them had any mind on when Gus might return from the basement.

 

The night was strangely still as a Wynonna made her way through the town. Her usual areas were not those of interest due to where the creature had attacked the night before. Attacking a bar in town meant that this demon was interested in people, so even though Purgatory was never busy with crowds, Wynonna had to find where the people were that night. As she turned the corner into another street, Wynonna unfortunately found what she was looking for.

This street was not quiet. Sitting in the middle of the road was an ambulance and fire engine as the firefighters walked away from what had been a small café open until late. Outside, the occupants were being treated by the paramedics as most sat shaken on the floor. To Wynonna’s relief there were no body bags, but it was clear that those who had been in the café were both shaken and some were badly injured.

‘What happened?’ she asked approaching one of the police officers also on the scene.

‘Something set fire to the place,’ the man said turning to her.

‘Do you know what?’ she pressed watching as an elderly couple were helped into one of the ambulances. Blood seeped from a wound on the man’s face as his wife followed him inside.

‘All witnesses say there was too much fire to see what had started it, but it came from only one source at the back so they were able to get out the front…’ he then stopped himself and looked her up and down. ‘You’re not press are you?’

‘Don’t worry,’ Wynonna assured him moving towards the building. ‘Most wouldn’t believe don’t believe half the stuff that happens in this town so I don’t bother telling them.’ She then spotted a familiar face amongst the victims sitting outside the burnt building. ‘Perry?’ She jogged over and crouched over him as he sat wrapped in a foil blanket covered in soot and blood. ‘What happened?’

Shaken and clearly traumatised, it took a few moments for him to bring his eyes to meet Wynonna’s. ‘There was something there…’ he breathed out.

‘Something there?’

‘It came in the back, it looked like a man… but it couldn’t be right?’ there were tears in his eyes, tears from terror. ‘He was glowing and he breathed fire. So much fire. It was so hot.’ He covered his face with his hands. ‘I thought I was going to die…’

Wynonna placed a hand gently on his shoulder ‘it’s okay, you’re okay…’ she could hear he was crying into his hands but her mind was also racing. ‘When you say he was glowing? What did you mean?’

Sniffing and wiping his cheeks and eyes, Perry tried to gather himself to think back, ‘I didn’t see much before we had to get out, but it was his head and it looked like his eyes… his eyes were red…’ At the words, Wynonna’s head fell and she almost felt her heart break. Perry noticed this. ‘You look like you’ve heard that before?’

Despite what she was feeling, Wynonna knew she had to cover it, ‘no… it just sounds horrific and I’m just so glad that you’re all okay.’ Her hand still on his shoulder she squeezed it before standing up. She looked around again at the people sitting on the curb, all shaken, injured and lucky to be alive. ‘Oh god Dolls… was this you?’ Wynonna said under her breath.

 

‘So… I’ve found a good bottle, good year…’ at the sound of Gus’ voice, Waverly pulled her hand out from under Nicole’s shirt where it hand been enjoying the toned feel of the vampire’s stomach. Quickly, she pushed Nicole back and they both turned to face the door like nothing had been happening. Gus entered her eyes on the bottle, ‘though something tells me that you’re a bit older than this wine Nicole…’

‘Probably,’ Nicole laughed. She eyed that Waverly’s shirt still looked messily untucked from her skirt and gestured to it as Gus’ back remained turned as she sorted three wine glasses and began to pour out the wine. Waverly looked down and a little panicked tucked her top quickly back into her skirt. She managed this just in time before Gus turned with two of the glasses half full in her hands.

‘I should imagine you have tasted plenty of wine but hopefully this will do…’ Nicole reached forward and took it. Gus retrieved the other glass for Waverly which was less full than the other two and the three brought their glasses together and took their first sip. ‘What do you think?’ Waverly was touched, it was clear that Gus was really trying to make an effort.

Nicole felt the pressure, but she wasn’t showing it, ‘it’s lovely.’

‘I must admit…’ Gus said taken a seat. Waverly and Nicole did the same. ‘… my experience isn’t anything on yours.’ She studied the vampire for a moment. ‘The things you must have seen over the years?’

‘Well I stayed in a lot of places for a while and you didn’t hear about things like you do today, but yes… I’ve seen some things,’ Nicole agreed. ‘And some things I wish I hadn’t seen…’

‘That’s history I guess,’ Gus nodded. She looked at Waverly then back at Nicole. ‘You’ll be useful for her history projects…’

‘Some of them yes,’ Nicole laughed.

‘There must be a lot of history that we mere humans don’t know about?’ Gus went on her face dropping a little. ‘A world that up until being taken by Willa, I had no idea about.’ She shifted in her chair. Waverly also felt awkward at her words.

‘For good reason,’ Nicole said carefully. ‘There are things that humans should not know. The world is frightening enough as it is.’ She placed her wine glass down on the table. ‘Now you know, just how frightening.’

Her glass also on the table, Gus traced her finger up and down its neck, ‘something which, knowing that Waverly is involved in it, that I am struggling to come to terms with.’

‘Trust me… so am I,’ Nicole said. Gus frowned, confused by the comment. Nicole reached across the table and took Waverly’s hand. ‘When I arrived in Purgatory quite a few months ago, I wasn’t looking for Waverly, I was looking for the slayer… who is Wynonna.’ Gus nodded showing that she was keeping up. ‘However, she wasn’t here yet so when I saw Waverly, I thought she was the slayer. I quickly found out when watching her that she wasn’t… but by then it was too late.’ She looked over at Waverly who gazed back. ‘I was hooked.’ Their eyes locked for a few seconds, before Nicole was able to look back at Gus. ‘Back then Waverly knew nothing of my world, nothing of the demons in the dark and the things that could really hurt her and it was good that way. Still, I knew what was there so I promised myself I would keep her safe.’ She paused again and sighed. ‘Then… she became friends with Wynonna and it all changed. Suddenly, Waverly was involved in my world, fighting those demons in the dark and putting herself in positions with those things that could really hurt her… and Gus, I’ve never been so terrified.’ Nicole watched as Gus took a deep breath, taking in everything the vampire was saying. Waverly was watching them both carefully, trying desperately to read the situation and what her guardian was thinking. ‘But I promise you…’ she squeezed Waverly’s hand in her own tighter. ‘I will do everything I can to protect her from anything that can do her harm… because I love her Gus and I cannot lose her. I’m sure, that neither can you.’

‘On that Nicole…’ Gus said firmly so grateful to hear the vampire’s words. ‘We both heartily agree.’

‘And Wynonna is responsible for everything,’ Waverly chimed in. ‘If I hadn’t met her than I wouldn’t have known about the other world and we wouldn’t be having this conversation…’

At this Gus laughed, ‘sometimes these things are meant to happen Waverly,’ she took a large sip of wine. ‘We just have to make the most of it.’ She looked between Nicole and Waverly observing how the vampire gazed adoringly at her adopted daughter.

‘I am…’ Waverly grinned looking at Nicole. If it was possible, after hearing Nicole say all of those things to Gus, she was falling for the vampire even more.

 

‘It’s Dolls,’ Wynonna cried as she ran back into the library. Pete and Jeremy looked up from the laptop and Nedley stuck his head out of his office at the cry.

‘Dolls?’ Jeremy asked shocked.

Dejectedly, Wynonna took a seat and hung her head, ‘a café got attacked and Perry was there… he said he saw a man with a glowing forehead, red eyes, blowing fire… something I know too well from when he attacked me in the cemetery.’

‘But I thought he had it under control?’ Nedley asked confused joining them.

‘He’s been without his medication,’ Wynonna explained. ‘Since leaving they haven’t been providing it so he’s been trying to control himself without it. I guess it’s not working anymore.’

‘I find it hard to believe that The Initiative would just cut him off,’ Nedley said stunned. ‘That would be so irresponsible for them in respect to the safety of the public.’

‘You haven’t seen Lucado pissed off…’ Wynonna muttered. ‘It’s been worrying me for a while. With her black and white against demons.’ She paused trying to accept what it was that she was actually about to say. ‘I think she wanted this.’

Nedley’s eyes widened in shock, ‘why on earth would she…?’ he stopped. ‘No…’

Jeremy had caught on as well, ‘so she would have an excuse to kill him…’

‘Oh god,’ Nedley breathed out taking a seat.

‘I was so angry at Nicole, so angry for what happened last week with Willa, but this… this is something else.’ Wynonna raged softly. ‘When Nicole made Willa she was a soulless demon, but Lucado… she is a person, a person presumably with a soul but she has manipulated this situation so she can take out Dolls just because he disobeyed her… doing the right thing.’ She looked at Jeremy. ‘Absolutely the right thing.’

Jeremy turned to Pete who was looking bewildered by the whole thing, ‘Dolls is part of an army group called the Initiative, set up by the government to deal with the underworld and demons. They tried to kill me during my first phase. Dolls stopped them because he understood that things are not as black and white as people and human… there’s the mess in the middle… which incidentally, you and I are in.’ He put his hands up in mock celebration. ‘Yay.’

‘So what do we do?’ Pete asked after a little smirk.

Wynonna stood up, ‘we do what bitch is refusing to do… we help him.’

‘How?’ Nedley asked.

The slayer looked at Jeremy, ‘by using what we have…’ Jeremy looked a little taken back. ‘Jeremy I need you to break into Dolls’ apartment, there must be something there which tells us what medication he has been using. When you do, do you think you can break it down and create more?’

‘If there’s even a drop left somewhere… I should be able to,’ Jeremy nodded understanding the urgency of the situation. He looked at Pete as he grabbed his bag and threw it over his shoulder. ‘You up for it?’

‘Absolutely,’ he too rose to his feet quickly.

‘Be careful… both of you,’ Wynonna warned. ‘I’ve now see two buildings burnt down due to just one man. How no one else has been killed, I don’t know.’

‘We’ll be fine,’ he glanced at Pete. ‘I’ve found I can run a lot faster than ever could recently.’ Pete shared the joke as the two of them made a swift exit out of the doors.

Once they were gone, Nedley looked at his slayer, ‘are you okay?’ he placed a gentle hand on her arm. ‘I get the feeling that this man means something to you…’

‘That’s just it Nedley,’ Wynonna said sadly. ‘He is still a man and I will not allow him to be lost because of this.’

‘What are you going to do now?’

‘I’m going to find him before the Initiative does.’

Nedley watched as his slayer tore out of the library. His shoulder rose and fell with a sigh. He thought the Initiative were going to be a great asset to Wynonna, with resources, technology and man power that would be invaluable to their fight against the forces of darkness. The Watcher’s Council had always said they sometimes felt isolated and out dated as they tried to keep the evil in the world at bay. However, it appeared that the army group were the ones ill equipped to be fighting in that world. Instead of being of assistance, they were now making the slayer’s job a lot harder than it needed to be.

 

Chuckling at the latest shared joke, Gus and Waverly walked Nicole to the door.

‘Well it was lovely to meet you Nicole,’ Gus said as she opened the door. ‘Sorry, that I had to come down quite heavy handed, but I think you understand…’ she turned to Waverly beside her. ‘… how precious this girl is.’ She wrapped her arm around Waverly’s neck and kissed her lovingly on the forehead.

‘I absolutely do,’ Nicole smiled at the display.

‘Hopefully, you’ll come around again soon?’ Gus asked.

‘As long as I’m welcome, I’m here for both you of you,’ Nicole replied.

‘Well okay then,’ Gus acknowledged, ‘I’ll leave you two to say your goodbyes… don’t take too long Waverly, it is a school night…’

Waverly blushed at this as Gus walked past her and into the kitchen, closing the door behind her to give them some privacy. Nicole looked at Waverly nervously, ‘how did I do?’

‘You were perfect,’ Waverly replied.

‘It’s ridiculous, I’ve faced so many things but I was terrified tonight,’ Nicole whispered.

‘You...’ Waverly started placing her hands on Nicole’s face, ‘… couldn’t have done any better.’ Without any actual breath, Nicole sighed in relief. Waverly looked back at the kitchen door to make sure it was closed. She moved her hands to Nicole’s shoulders and made the vampire walk back until her back hit the hallway wall. ‘I wish I could take you upstairs and show you how grateful I am…’ Waverly breathed into Nicole’s mouth as she brought their faces closer together.

‘You have no idea how good that sounds…’ Nicole gasped back her hands finding Waverly’s hips.

Waverly kept their lips agonisingly apart, ‘watching you with Gus, how you talked about me… made me realise how much I want to…’

Nicole pulled back so she could check she had heard right, her eyes burned into the humans, ‘you want to…?’

Waverly breathed out a smile, ‘yeah… I really want to.’

Slowly, as if time had almost stood still, Nicole’s fingers floated up to Waverly’s face. Tenderly, they stroked Waverly’s face over her check down so that Nicole’s thumb could softly trace Waverly’s lips. The thought of them in the way Waverly was speaking caused her legs to feel a little weak. She couldn’t breathe more deeply and her heart could not pound to show her excitement, but she felt it, it every way that her body could. She only had to imagine Waverly’s body against her own for the feelings to hit her fully.

‘We have to make it special,’ Nicole said. ‘It’s your…’ the words were almost caught in her throat as she watched Waverly’s chest rise and fall heavily in front of her. ‘I don’t want you to regret anything.’

‘I won’t…’ Waverly smiled. ‘As long as it’s you… there’ll be nothing to regret.’ Her hand also rose; her fingertips coming to rest on Nicole’s chest. She couldn’t feel the breath or heartbeat, but Nicole’s face told Waverly of the affect she was having. Waverly replied by bringing their lips together again. With those thoughts in mind, there was more hunger in their kisses, more want. Nicole’s back still to the wall, she placed her hands on the lower part of Waverly’s back pulling the human’s hips into her own. The contact caused them both to gasp as their mouths parted. Waverly looked down, she could feel it already. ‘You better go…’ she could hardly believe she was saying the words. ‘Before we can’t stop…’

‘I can’t stop now,’ Nicole said her hands moving down to grab Waverly’s curves.

Waverly giggled at the position of the vampire’s hands as they kissed again, ‘okay, when it gets ever harder to stop…’

‘It’s hard to stop now.’ Using her hands, Nicole held Waverly in place, she did not want the contact at their hips to break, it was making her feel alive.

Biting her lip, Waverly knew she had to be strong. She reached behind and grabbed Nicole’s hands. If Nicole wanted to, with her strength, she could make it impossible for Waverly to take control but she gave in, allowing Waverly to move her hands and their hips to fall apart. Holding them tightly, Waverly kissed them both.

‘You know it’s all I’ll be thinking about,’ she said gazing into the eyes above her.

‘In the most loving way, you’re intolerable… do you know that?’ Nicole said taking Waverly’s chin between her finger and thumb.

‘But you love me?’ Waverly beamed back away to let Nicole remove herself from the wall.

Nicole peeled herself away from the wall and moved towards the door, while she had the strength she knew she had to leave now, ‘I really do,’ she leaned into share one last kiss before flashing Waverly one last loving smile and disappearing into the night. Waverly watched her until the last second when she couldn’t see her anymore before closing the door. She leaned back against it thinking about everything she wanted to do with that vampire. One thing was certain, she would not be thinking clearly until it happened.

 

Expecting to find the door locked, Jeremy was surprised that he could simply push the door open. However, once the state of the apartment lay inside came into view, both he and Pete’s surprise turned to shock. Carefully, they stepped forward enabling their eyes to fall on the full scale of the devastated that lay inside.

‘Oh my god,’ Jeremy said.

‘Did he do this?’ Pete asked open mouthed.

Jeremy continued to walk forward past the scorched couch and the unrecognisable TV and stereo in the corner; both now only deformed shapes of twisted metal. ‘He must have done.’ He shook his head trying to take it all in. ‘Even if we find something in here, I have no idea if it will have survived this…’

‘Where should we look?’ Pete asked starting to glance around.

‘Anywhere,’ Jeremy told him beginning to open and close any doors or draws that still remain in any kind of tact. Nearly all the furniture showed signs of being burnt but some remained in better condition than others.

Whilst Jeremy tried the living room, Pete went into the kitchen which had had the same treatment as the living room however more of the units remained intact. His instant thought was the fridge, so he made his way over and pulled it open. However, due to being slightly wielded shut due to being partly melted, at first Pete was unable to open it. But unlike mere humans, Pete had another level he could go up to. Using the strength within him, which was especially on edge due to the upcoming full moon, Pete wrenched the fridge door open and off its hinges. It landed with a loud clang and clatter on the floor next to him.

‘What… what happened?’ Jeremy asked flying into the room. He looked between Pete, the fridge and the fridge door now rocking as if in shock on the floor. ‘Did you do that?’

‘Um… yeah…’ Pete said a little guiltily reverting his eyes.

‘How… how did you do that?’

Pete smirked, ‘there are a lot of perks to being a werewolf… surely you’ve noticed some of them?’

‘Yeah actually,’ he looked at the door again. His face lit up in delight. ‘Are we strong too?’

‘We are when you learn to tap into it,’ he smiled at Jeremy. ‘I’ll teach you if you like?’

A grin spread across Jeremy’s face, then he remembered why they were standing where they were. ‘Let’s sort this first,’ he looked into the fridge and saw that it was empty of what they were looking for. ‘If we don’t find any of his medication of whatever they’ve been feeding him at the Initiative we won’t be able to help Dolls.’ He tried to think and turned round to see that Dolls door hung off its hinges. ‘Jesus, he must have done that.’

He walked out of the kitchen with Pete in tow. They entered the bedroom to see that the bed was only the burnt remains of wooden frame. The mattress and bedding had been turned into ash. Pete couldn’t help but stare at it as they walked in.

‘I’m not sure I want to meet your friend…’ he said nervously.

‘All you have to do, is help me find a sample… once you’ve done that you are free to leave,’ Jeremy assured him as they began to look in, under and around anything they could. Jeremy straightened so he could look Pete in the eye. ‘Honestly… you don’t even have to be here now if you don’t want to.’

From the other side of the bed, Pete smiled at Jeremy’s understanding, ‘no… this is where I want to be.’

Their eyes met for a moment before Jeremy seemed almost a little too overwhelmed and looked away. As he did so he noticed that one of the cupboards just about remaining intact beside Dolls’ bed had its door hanging open slightly and from inside it came a gentle light. Bending down, Jeremy pulled it fully opened and saw that it was a hidden small fridge. Inside it was what he was looking for. On the shelves the vials that were inside were all broken or empty, but at the back a shattered piece of glass contained the tiniest drop, just enough to enable Jeremy to study and perhaps create more. Carefully, he reached in and with his hand trembling slightly he pulled out the piece of glass and cupped it in his hand. From inside his bag, Jeremy pulled out a vial and popped the top open. He poured the drop on the glass into it and secured the top. He breathed a sigh of relief once the sample was safe. It was only a minuscule drop at the bottom but it was enough.

‘Have you got it?’ Pete asked when he saw what Jeremy was staring at.

‘This must be it,’ Jeremy nodded. He placed it gently into his bag. ‘We better get to work…’ he moved to go towards the door but stopped. ‘If you want to? Honestly… you don’t have to be involved in this.’

‘Is this what you guys do?’ Pete asked walking towards Jeremy. ‘Solve mysteries, catch or fight demons? Is that why you are all always in library researching?’

‘Is it that obvious?’ Jeremy said worried.

‘No,’ Pete laughed. ‘Only to those paying close attention.’ He took his eyes away from Jeremy’s a little embarrassed before collecting himself and bringing them back. ‘It looks awesome, dangerous I bet, but awesome.’

‘Come on then,’ Jeremy grinned. He wanted the moment to linger, he could feel the attraction between them and it interested him greatly, but all he could really think about was Dolls and the danger both he and anyone who crossed him were in.

 

Desperately, Wynonna’s eyes flitted over the streets of Purgatory looking for any sign, any hint of where Dolls could be and for any movement that could be attributed to the Initiative. She knew the sounds they made and the way they approached and she would intervene in anyway necessary to stop Dolls from being harmed. He had given everything up to save Jeremy and she was prepared to give anything up to save him. Just then, her phone rang in her pocket causing her to jump slightly.

‘Hello?’ Wynonna asked keeping her voice hushed while still looking around.

‘Hi Wynonna,’ Jeremy called as his phone sat on speaker on the school science desk surface. ‘We found it…’ He pointed to a mixture indicating for Pete to pour a little of it into the beaker bubbling over the Bunsen burner. As soon as Pete did, the mixture frothed and boiled over. The two guys looked at each other with concerned expressions. ‘But we’re having a little trouble recreating it.’

‘Just keep going Jeremy, I have faith in you…’ Wynonna said. ‘Or if you don’t, I’ll break your balls… whatever helps motivate you!’

‘The second… definitely the second,’ he looked at Pete a little terrified. ‘I’ll get back to you! Where are you?’

‘In the middle of the Purgatory high street,’ she told him. ‘If you manage to create the medicine, fine me!’

Wynonna stared at her phone as it beeped to tell her Jeremy had hung up, ‘come on Jeremy… you can do this,’ she said into the air. ‘I need you to do this.’ As she did so, she noticed a shape moving across the road in the distance. It was stooped low as if moving like gorilla. Watching it cautiously, Wynonna began to move in ensuring that she remained out of sight whilst she watched where the creature was headed. As she turned a corner, she saw to her horror that it was heading straight towards Shorty’s. Unable to hang back any longer, she moved in seeing as she got closer that it was indeed Dolls.

‘Dolls!’ she called holding her hands up in surrender. He turned immediately, whirling round, his head glowing, his eyes red and his mouth frothing. ‘Oh that’s not attractive.’ She shook herself knowing this was not the time to make jokes. ‘Dolls… it’s me…’ her eyes softened, pleading. ‘Can you hear me?’ Dolls’ posture became more guarded, more aggressive as he growled at her. ‘You’ve got to be in there somewhere…’ Rearing back, Dolls took in a long deep breath and Wynonna knew what was coming, she had seen it before. As flames split the street in two aimed straight at her, Wynonna threw herself to the side crashing into the curb. She grimaced in pain before she got herself back to her feet. ‘Dolls! Stop!’ she cried becoming more desperate. ‘This is not you… I know you’re in there!’ Once again, she held her hands up hoping that in Dolls somewhere would be the man knowing that she was not going to hurt him.

Then to the side of them, two people came out of Shorty’s catching Dolls’ attention. Their happy laughing faces turned instantly to horror as their eyes came to lie upon the sight in front of them. Dolls’ eyes locked onto them and he began to pant and rear back.

‘Dolls no!’ Wynonna screamed. It stopped him. He looked round at her, growling and breathing out smoke. Wynonna gestured to the two people to get gone. They obeyed and sprinted away down the street. ‘Okay…’ Wynonna said beginning to breathe more. ‘You heard that… you are in there…’ gradually, she began approach Dolls keeping her hands up. ‘Dolls… it’s me, Wynonna…’ he continued to breathe deeply, growling between breaths, his shoulders rising and falling heavily with his fists clenched. ‘… you’ve got this okay… you can control this and you don’t have to hurt anybody…’ the emotion in her voice was beginning to show as her voice cracked and broke with her words. ‘You are a good man… who I…’ she stopped and shook herself. ‘… who I really like and want back…’

She was now only a few meters away and edging closer. If Dolls breathed out any fire now, she would get in full in the face and she knew this; she had to take the risk. With another few steps, she would be able to reach out and touch him. She studied his posture, it had relaxed a little but the forehead was still on fire and his eyes were crimson red and flaming. In the centre his pupil was now a slit and glowing yellow with a tinge of green, as if he were a reptile. Wynonna took another step and lowered her hands. She reached one out and held her fingers out to touch his arm, but inside she was terrified and this showed in her hesitation.

‘You’re a good man Dolls… and you can control this,’ she said softly. Dolls suddenly began to relax, his shoulders unwound and his jaw unclenched. His eyes began to blink as the man inside began to fight the demon on the outside. He shook his head violently and brought his hands to his head. The growling heard was now more human as Dolls began to cry out against the forces that were trying to control him. ‘You’ve got this… you can do this!’ Wynonna stepped forward and put her hands over his. Dolls moved his thumbs so that he was holding onto Wynonna’s fingers. He needed them.

‘It’s too strong… it’s too strong!’ he screamed out.

‘No…’ Wynonna urged. ‘No, you are stronger… you are so much stronger.’

Dolls crumpled to the floor and Wynonna went with him. She kept hold of his hands not wanting to let the man go that was defeating the demon inside. Dolls looked up, his forehead was no longer glowing and the red in his eyes was beginning to fade away.

‘Wynonna!’ the cry came from across the road. Wynonna looked up to see Doc running across the road. ‘Are you okay?’ His hand was resting on his gun looking at the two in front of him.

At first Wynonna was glad to see him, then she heard the growling beginning again in front of her. Slowly, she looked round fearing the worst. The worst was happening. The glowing had returned to Dolls’ forehead and the red had returned to his eyes.

‘What the…?’ Wynonna let go of Dolls’ hands and stumbled backwards. She looked at Doc then back at Dolls. ‘Why him?’ Dolls didn’t answer, he was panting heavily again through his gritted teeth. ‘Is this a man thing?’

‘You… want… him…’ Dolls snarled, each word slow and raging.

Wynonna stared at him aghast, ‘I don’t want him… what is this?’ Then it hit her. ‘Oh my god… this is about jealousy? You have got to be kidding me!’

The look on Dolls face told Wynonna he was not kidding. All humanity had dropped away. Instead of just the glowing forehead and eyes, scales began to appear on Dolls’ skin and long sharp nails grew out of the end of his fingernails. Three scaled ridges protruded from Dolls head running from his forehead right down the back of his head, down his neck and underneath his ripped blue top. His human teeth were now sharp spikes, yellow and menacing.

‘Wynonna!’ Doc shouted mortified as the creature squared up to the slayer. ‘Get away from him!’

‘Dolls…’ Wynonna called over trying to keep Dolls attention. ‘I think you better…’ However, she had to stop as Dolls turned to face Doc on the other side of the road. ‘Oh crap…’

Crouched low, his scales reflecting the nearly full moon above him, Dolls took one step forward but was stopped his path by a shot which deflected off him before whistling off into the air. Stunned, Wynonna looked around and saw them gathering behind Doc. Dolls did as well and instantly filled the street with flames as more shots rang out through the night air, all aimed at him. Diving out of the way, Doc only just avoided the flames that only just fell short of the soldiers crouched in the shadows.

‘Wynonna,’ the voice was now hushed and from behind her. Spinning around, the slayer’s eyes were relieved to fall upon Jeremy and Pete as they crept around the building. ‘It might be no good, but it’s the closest we could get…’ Jeremy reached into his pocket and pulled out a needle filled with blue liquid. ‘We figured we had to get it close but not perfect because…’ his eyes were drawn away as the street filled with fire once again and this time it was met with the sound of screaming as Dolls was within range of the soldiers. ‘… bloody hell… is that…?’

‘I don’t know anymore,’ Wynonna said sadly. She took the needle from Jeremy. ‘He might be beyond the point of return.’

‘You have to try though right?’ Jeremy said with a sympathetic smile. ‘You didn’t give up on me.’

Wynonna allowed the words to give her some strength before she gripped the needle tightly and turned round to the battle taking place in the middle of the street. Countless shots were being aimed at Dolls but they were all reflecting off his impenetrable scales. However, Wynonna knew that the soldiers would definitely have more ammunition and weapons within their grasp. Moving towards Wynonna, Doc rolled underneath the flames and tried his own shots at the creature, but they had just as little effect as those from the Initiative. With another roll, he joined Wynonna who was sitting against the wall wondering how she would administer the serum if Dolls’ scales were impermeable.

‘Did you know he was such a creature?’ Doc asked catching his breath.

Wynonna stared at Dolls as if in a daze, ‘not this bad… no…’ above them, glass shattered as shots continued to whistle around the street. Doc and Wynonna covered their heads and moved a long trying to find some cover behind some parked bikes.

‘What do we do?’ Doc asked peeking up over the bikes. He fell back down quickly as a shot nearly took the hat off his head. His breath smelt like alcohol and it was clear he had been drinking, but he was doing well to appear sober and alert.

‘You don’t do anything,’ Wynonna told him firmly. She found a spot on the bike which allowed her to remain hidden but look through to study the creature staggering across the road and blasting fire towards the soldiers which continued to pummel him with bullets. Suddenly, without warning a grenade was thrown from behind one of the cars the soldiers were using as cover and exploded right in front of the demon. There was a great roar and once the flames and smoke died down, the slayer, Doc and soldiers looked on to see that Dolls was sprawled on the floor shaken by the blast. Wynonna studied him carefully as he staggered to his feet and saw that the explosion had damaged some of his scales. ‘I need to stop the Initiative claiming a victim of their own creation.’

Seeing that Wynonna was about to leap over the bike, Doc pulled her back, ‘are you mad? They will shoot you down if you go out there.’

Looking into his eyes, Wynonna saw that he was right. ‘You need to cover me then.’

‘What? Shoot at humans?’ Doc asked appalled.

‘You have the best shot in history, I’m sure you can make sure that you just miss?’ Wynonna told him. To this Doc’s face began to brighten as he accepted the challenge. He adjusted his hat and took position. He and the slayer exchanged nods as Doc began to release shots back across the road. It had the immediate effect Wynonna wanted as the soldiers adjusted to being under fire from another source. Their fire began to die down and Wynonna took her chance.

Leaping over the bike, Wynonna flew into the road her hand gripped around the needle containing the blue serum. With his attention on the soldiers, Dolls didn’t see her coming as Wynonna dived forward pulling him to the floor. Simultaneously she found the weakened spot she had spotted from behind the bike and drove the needle deep into the scorched flesh. The creature struggled ferociously against her but using her strength Wynonna was able to push the needle in to allow all of the serum to go into his body. Just as she was done, the creature flipped snapping the needle. Wynonna went flying off as he clambered back to his feet. Seeing this, Doc stopped firing and rushed to Wynonna’s side going to drag her back.

‘No,’ she cried pulling his hand off her arm. ‘I need to see…’ she looked up at Dolls as he staggered back round to continue breathing fire at the remaining soldiers whose shots continued to whistle through the night air. It appeared, the serum was not having any affect at all. ‘No…’ behind Dolls, the soldiers were preparing a bigger more deadly weapon. ‘Stop!’ she leapt to her feet and began to run towards them.

‘Wynonna!’ Doc screamed dismayed. He tried to grab her but she was too fast. He fell to the floor as his hands grappled and took hold of nothing.

‘Stop!’ Wynonna shrieked waving her hands in front of her. ‘Don’t shoot!’ The soldiers however were not listening; they were too busy being focused on the task at hand. ‘It’s Dolls! Please!’

Then suddenly, they stopped causing Wynonna to halt her run. She frowned almost frozen to the spot as she watched the soldiers just watching something behind her. Gradually on the spot, Wynonna turned her body around and saw what they were staring at.

The creature was now knelt on the floor resting on its hands on the ground to steady itself. It was breathing deeply as if in great pain. Soon, it began to buck and writhe and fell completely onto the concrete on its back. An ear splitting roar came out of Dolls’ mouth as he continued to squirm and thrash around in pain. All eyes watched, including Jeremy and Pete who emerged from behind Shorty’s where they had been observing all the events involved. It seemed to take an age, but slowly but surely, the scales began to disappear, including the ridges that had extended the full distance of Dolls’ body. Seeing this, Wynonna began to make her way forward. Dolls’ breathing and cries of pain were now more human as the glow on his forehead and in his eyes began to fade.

‘Hot damn we did it,’ Jeremy gasped.

Guardedly, Wynonna slowly knelt down beside Dolls as he coughed and spluttered with the effects of the serum causing the last of the demon to fade from sight. His gun still up and aimed at the soldiers, Doc joined her.

‘Dolls?’ Wynonna asked nervously.

‘Wynonna?’ Dolls asked grimacing.

Wynonna breathed out a smile as she took his hand, ‘is it you?’

‘Yes,’ he just got out as the last effects of the serum began to wear off. His face was now completely back to normal but where the grenade had hit his shoulder, a nasty wound seeped blood through his top. Seeing this, Doc pulled a handkerchief out of his shirt pocket and pressed it to the wound. Before she was able to speak, from all around soldiers rushed forward and surrounded them.

One of them stepped forward and removed his green mask. From underneath the shocked face of Ewan Allenbach appeared, ‘she said he was a demon beyond return,’ he said.

Fury built inside Wynonna, ‘Lucado said that?’ Ewan could only nod as he watched Doc help Dolls with his nasty wound. Dolls took over holding the cloth to his shoulder as the cowboy helped him up. ‘Do you see what she does?’ Wynonna said to Ewan and all of the soldiers gathered round. ‘She lied to you… she lied because she wanted Dolls dead. It is not as simple as demon and human… there is so much in between!’ Around her, the soldiers began to lower their guns. ‘That woman’s mind is twisted with power and she is manipulating all of you. Did you know that it was the Initiative that did this to him?’ She could see by some of their faces that they didn’t. ‘You are not doing good here, you are making things worse under her. You people have no idea how complex the forces you are dealing with are.’

‘She wouldn’t do this… she wouldn’t ask us to kill Dolls if she didn’t think…’ Ewan started as if trying to convince himself otherwise.

‘She cut off his meds Ewan,’ Wynonna snapped. ‘She did it so this would happen and you would kill him. She is evil… she is the definition of evil because she is calculating everything she does. As his demon self, Dolls is not in control… but she is. She knows exactly what she is doing.’

Ewan stared at Wynonna, he was clearly broken, the truth starting to sink in. He looked at Dolls. ‘Is this true man?’ he asked, hoping for an answer that would not confirm his worst fears. Dolls was so exhausted he could only nod as he accepted Doc’s support to stay stood up. Gradually, one by one the soldiers in the circle began to remove their green balaclavas and step back. Every one of them wore an expression similar to the one on Ewan’s face. Every single one of them wishing it wasn’t true. ‘Stand down guys… stand down.’ Ewan said dejectedly as he began to walk away. The men followed their heads down.

‘Ewan,’ Wynonna called after him. In the middle of the street littered with burnt debris as if in a war zone, Ewan turned back to look at her. ‘What will you do?’

‘I have no idea,’ he admitted before he retreated with his men as they disappeared into the shadows.

Wynonna watched them go making sure they were gone before looking back at Doc and Dolls. Jeremy and Pete had now joined them. Jeremy couldn’t help but admire his work as Dolls was completely reverted back to his human self.

‘You got any more of that serum?’ Wynonna asked.

‘I will do…’ Jeremy nodded. He looked at Dolls, ‘I’ll make sure you have a supply.’

‘Thank you,’ Dolls breathed out exhausted.

‘Come on… we need to get him somewhere to rest,’ Wynonna said after she sent a smile to Jeremy.

‘Where?’ asked Jeremy. ‘He can’t go back to his apartment.’

‘The safest place I know,’ Wynonna replied.

 

Standing over him, the gang watched Dolls as he slept soundly in the bed hidden in the back room behind Nedley’s office. His shoulder now bandaged, his fatigued body needed time to recover from its last ordeal.

‘Hopefully the soldiers now know exactly who Lucado is,’ Nedley said leaning against the door frame. ‘You have probably stirred up a good hornets nest in that place.’

‘Good,’ Wynonna spat. ‘Bloody bitch needs to be put in her place.’

‘He can stay here as long as he needs,’ Nedley told her. ‘I’ll make sure he’s safe. Jeremy and Pete are in the science lab making more of his serum now. We can keep him under control.’

‘Thank you,’ Wynonna smiled at her watcher.

He could see the tiredness in her eyes, ‘you need to get some rest. This has been quite an ordeal.’ Wynonna was not going to disagree. She moved forward and knelt down beside Dolls. She didn’t care who was watching. Tenderly, she stroked his face and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. A small movement from the sleeping man told Wynonna that Dolls might have felt it. The slayer was still pretty angry with the ex-soldier due to the whole reason of his turning being jealously over something with Doc that did not exist, but it was something that she would deal with another time. Right now, she was just relieved that he was safe and human.

‘Come on…’ Nedley chuckled kindly. ‘Take yourself home, I’ll watch him.’ Reluctantly, Wynonna got to her feet wiping the tears from her cheeks. As she moved past Nedley just moved gently to stop her. ‘There might come a time when you need to do the hardest thing…’ he said. ‘The duty of a slayer…’

Wynonna met his eyes for a moment, ‘he’s a man Nedley and he didn’t kill anyone...’

‘This time.’

The pain was written all over the slayer’s face, ‘I know.’ She pulled her eyes away from Nedley. She knew the truth. After one last glance back at Dolls, she made her way out of the room and through the office to the main library where Waverly was waiting. ‘Take me home.’ Waverly could see the emotion all over the slayer’s face and simply nodded whilst wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders.

 

‘Can you pass me the…’ Jeremy began, but Pete was already holding it. Jeremy laughed and took the ingredient from Pete. ‘And the…’ Pete was already holding it. Again Jeremy chuckled. ‘How do you…?’

‘I watched closely the first time,’ Pete said as Jeremy took the small vial of liquid from him.

‘You must have done,’ Jeremy said with a sideways glance. Carefully, measuring out exactly how much he needed, Jeremy poured a little of each ingredient into the beaker on the Bunsen burner and watched it change colour. The equipment laid out in front of them was fair more complicated than what they had done originally as Jeremy wanted to make sure he got the serum spot on. He was also trying to reduce the pain that Dolls had gone through in order to transition back into human.

Pete looked at what was laid out in front of them, the tubes, wires, beakers, all connected and doing everything they needed to, ‘you’re amazing,’ he said shaking his head.

‘I’m just one little science nerd,’ Jeremy said humbly as he continued working.

‘This is much more than being one little science nerd… this is genius stuff Jeremy,’ Pete went on.

Jeremy looked up at his work, ‘well, as long as it’s useful… as long as it helps Dolls.’

‘Clearly it will and this time it’ll be even better,’ Pete said just before a yawn escaped his mouth.

‘You can go you know,’ Jeremy said glancing at the clock. It showed it to be a ridiculous time in the morning with school only a few hours away. ‘I’m not going anywhere, I have to get this finished and cleared up before school.’

‘Then I’m not either,’ Pete said taking a seat on one of the lab chairs. ‘I’m here to help.’

‘And maybe out of a little bit of guilt?’ Jeremy asked.

Pete dropped his head, ‘I will never forgive myself… for what I did to you.’ He forced himself to raise his eyes to meet Jeremy’s. ‘I should have told you… I know that. But I want to do everything I can now to help you. To help you through this thing and how to deal with it… and… to show you that it does have its perks.’

‘I like the sound of those perks,’ Jeremy admitted.

‘I know I’ve found mine…’ Pete said. When Jeremy looked up and met his eyes, it became quickly apparent that Pete was probably referring to him. Jeremy looked a little shocked at the realisation and didn’t know what to say. Due to this, Pete laughed a little embarrassed. ‘I was referring to the strength thing… of course.’

‘Of course,’ Jeremy was not convinced. Their eyes met, in a way that Jeremy had not allowed them to. He wanted to continue to be angry at Pete but he actually wanted his help more. He was enjoying having some company in the science lab and he would welcome any help and advice with his second full moon weekend fast approaching. He hadn’t told any of the others, but he was terrified.

 

The knock on the door took Nicole be surprise, but at its lightness a smile drifted onto her face. Slowly, she placed her book to one side and walked as calmly as she could over to the door.

‘Couldn’t stay away could…’ she started as she opened the door but she was stopped when she saw who was at her door. ‘Doyle?’

‘Hello Nicole,’ he smiled but there was something off about it. ‘Can I come in?’

Blinking surprised, she stepped aside, ‘of course… please…’

‘Thank you,’ Doyle said as he looked around. ‘You’ve done good things with this place. The last time I was here it was just a bed which was only a mattress I believe.’

Nicole closed the door behind her, ‘well I’ve been here quite a while now…’

‘I know,’ Doyle cut in turning back to face her. His face wasn’t friendly anymore, it was serious and stern. ‘And it must come to an end.’

‘What?’ Nicole breathed out taken back.

‘I had another vision…’ Doyle told her. ‘You can’t stay here…’

Nicole tried to study his face to read him, ‘another vision, what was in it?’

Doyle avoided her eyes, ‘I don’t want to tell you that, you just need to listen to me… you need to leave.’

‘I’m not going anywhere until you start making sense,’ Nicole snapped a little agitated. She took a step closer to him. ‘What did you see in your vision?’ she pressed.

Frustrated, Doyle looked away and realised he couldn’t avoid the truth. Slowly, with a sigh, he met her eyes, ‘you… killing people.’ Horrified, Nicole almost stumbled back. ‘I don’t know how and I don’t know why… but my visions don’t lie… it’s going to happen.’

‘I would never…’ Nicole gasped using the chair to support herself. ‘Doyle, I can’t.’

‘I know…’ Doyle nodded. ‘Your soul… but it’s what I saw. Something here is going to make you do this.’

Nicole glared at him, ‘it would be useful to know what.’

‘Yes it bloody well would,’ Doyle agreed just as frustrated. ‘But I don’t decide what I see. I just get bloody riddles in the form of…’

‘Head splitting, mind blowing headaches,’ Nicole finished straightening. ‘I know.’

With a sympathetic look, Doyle’s expression softened, ‘look, I know what you have here… I know about Waverly.’

‘I love her Doyle,’ Nicole told him sadly. ‘I love her more than I have ever loved anything in my life… in my existence. I can’t leave.’

‘Even if it means you might kill someone?’ Doyle asked. He saw the pain that it caused Nicole and he hated saying as much as she clearly hated hearing it.

Slowly, Nicole took a seat on the chair she was leaning on staring blankly ahead of her. There was only one face she could see. ‘Did your vision give any indication of when this might happen?’

‘No… I’m sorry…’ Doyle said. ‘You should say your goodbyes as soon as you can.’

Nicole shook her head, she could feel Waverly’s kisses on her lips, ‘I can’t leave her…’ she whispered.

‘Can you add more faces to those your soul already torments you with?’ Doyle asked. ‘Is she worth that?’

‘She’s everything…’

‘Then stay,’ Doyle shrugged. ‘I’m not here to tell you what to do, but I know the real Nicole… if she thinks more carefully about what this really means and the fact that people are going to die… and she will do the right thing, even if it is the hardest thing she ever has to do.’ At his words, Nicole’s face fell into her hands. She knew what he was saying was so painfully true.

‘It’s part of your punishment,’ Doyle continued gently. ‘You weren’t meant to ever be happy or content… those Romanians made damn sure of that and who can blame them? After what you did.’ He made his way back towards her front door. Nicole didn’t turn, her eyes closed in her hands, she could only see one beautiful smile. A smile worn on the woman she loved who had been so happy in her arms only a few hours before. ‘Rumour has it there’s another Hellmouth in Cleveland, maybe you can find a use for yourself there and in time… maybe one day, you’ll move on.’ The vampire didn’t reply and Doyle understood. Ever since the vision had arrived, this had been one message he hadn’t wanted to deliver. As he opened the door and left the apartment and Nicole with her head in her hands, he refrained from telling her one detail. He knew about Waverly, he knew what she meant as Waverly had been in the vision too.


	16. Becoming Part 1

 

Cheerfully, Waverly skipped up the steps to the door. Making sure her surprise was secure in her hands she tapped on the door and waited for the reply. It came quickly in the form of Alice as she opened the door.

‘Oh hi Waverly,’ she smiled. She saw what was in Waverly’s hand and smiled. ‘I’ll just get her.’ Leaving Waverly waiting in the open door, Alice disappeared inside and Waverly could hear her feet clattering up the stairs. A few minutes later, Waverly heard lighter feet descending and Wynonna appeared looking a little dishevelled.

‘Happy Birthday!’ Waverly grinned gripping the balloon and holding it out for Wynonna to take.

Without a word, Wynonna groaned and shut the door in Waverly’s face. Alarmed, Waverly stepped back as she heard shouting from within the house and feet thundering back up the stairs and a door slam.

When the door reopened, it was Alice’s face that appeared, ‘I’m so sorry Waverly,’ she said when she saw Waverly’s crushed expression. ‘I’ll take the balloon and talk some sense into my daughter.’ Dejectedly, Waverly handed over the balloon. ‘It was a lovely idea,’ Alice smiled though she knew it was of little consolation. More gently than Wynonna, Alice closed the door leaving Waverly to walk away wondering what had just happened.

 

Hoping this one would not be slammed in her face, Waverly raised her hands to tap on Nicole’s door. It took a while, but eventually Waverly heard the lock turn and Nicole appeared looking also a little dishevelled.

‘Hey you,’ Nicole smiled appearing sleepy.

Waverly frowned at her appearance, ‘you okay?’

‘Yeah,’ Nicole lied. ‘Yeah… just a rough night, bad dreams.’

‘You don’t sleep at night…’ Waverly pointed out.

Inside, Nicole panicked but her face remained calm, ‘sometimes we do…’

Waverly was also confused as to why Nicole had not stepped aside and let her in, ‘can I come in?’

Nicole looked behind her at the things she was arranging into boxes. Boxes ready to move. ‘Er yeah sure, the place is a mess though, I’m having a sort out…’ she walked in allowing Waverly to follow. The human looked at the things in boxes, it was more than she expected.

‘These are some of your favourite things,’ she questioned when seeing some of the art work.

Nicole knew she had to tell Waverly the truth, but she couldn’t bear to break the beautiful girl’s heart, ‘I’m not getting rid of them all… can we not talk about this? You okay? Shouldn’t you be at school?’

Waverly turned away from the boxes as her mind returned to Wynonna, ‘I tried to do something really nice for Wynonna today, for her birthday and she just slammed the door in my face.’

The heartbreak of this alone told Nicole that there was no way she could tell Waverly that she was leaving, ‘what did you do?’

‘I tried to give her a balloon… how can I balloon be bad?’ Waverly asked.

Nicole couldn’t help but chuckle at how endearing Waverly was, ‘I think it’s her birthday not the gesture that is badly timed,’ she suggested. ‘If you think about everything she has going on right now.’

Nodding, Waverly could see her point, ‘the man she likes did try to kill her and is a dragon demon thing.’

‘And she has all of her slaying duties and the Initiative on her back, I wouldn’t be feeling all celebratory either,’ Nicole went on.

‘But you only turn eighteen once,’ Waverly protested.

‘I guess when you’re a slayer, there are more important things,’ Nicole said gently. ‘Like having to do the right thing all the time.’ She was beginning to find parallels with her own situation as she spoke. They struck her painfully with every one she said. ‘It’s hard and exhausting.’

‘Then a birthday is the perfect thing to take your mind off it,’ Waverly smiled.

Nicole laughed, ‘you’re pretty set on this aren’t you?’

‘Well…’ Waverly said with a flirtatious look Nicole’s way as she made her way over. ‘… I’m just really happy,’ she placed her hands on Nicole’s arms as she slid into them and met her eyes. ‘And I want to try and help Wynonna to feel as happy as I am.’

Guilt gripped every part of Nicole’s body as she gazed into Waverly’s perfect eyes, ‘if only everyone could be that happy,’ she forced out determined to not show the tiniest hint of the agony burning inside.

‘I think I might throw her a little surprise party and force her to have a good time…’

‘And that can’t go badly at all…’ Nicole said with a playful smirk.

Waverly addressed this with a short playful glare, ‘will you come?’

‘To the party?’ Her thoughts returned to leaving. She had planned to slip away that night, whether or not she was going to say goodbye to Waverly had yet to be decided. But now as Waverly’s longing eyes gazed up at her, she had no option but to postpone. The thought of leaving Waverly at all was tearing her apart. She knew the risk, she remembered what Doyle had said, but she simply loved Waverly far too much. ‘Of course I’ll be there.’

‘Thank you,’ Waverly stepped in and kissed Nicole softly. When she pulled away she kept their faces close, ‘maybe after we can… you know…’ she kissed Nicole again. ‘I can’t stop thinking about it.’

It would be the perfect goodbye. Or it would make it all that much harder. ‘Only if you are absolutely sure.’ Apart of Nicole wished Waverly would say no despite everything that she wanted. Nicole had never felt confliction like this. This went way beyond when she had to kill Shae. A kinder solution would be Wynonna driving a stake through her heart.

Waverly took Nicole’s hand in her own and placed it on her chest so that covered one of her curves, before looking back into her eyes. Nicole stared at where her hand was. With one finger Waverly moved the vampire’s face so that their eyes could meet again, ‘I’ve never been so sure of anything in my entire life.’ She placed their foreheads together. ‘I want this so badly.’

Desperately, Nicole held back tears as she spoke the truth, ‘I want this too.’ Waverly caught her breath before she brought their lips together again. Nicole moved her hand from its location so that her arm could snake around Waverly. She wanted to hold Waverly as close as she could and never wanted to let her go. Every part of their bodies that could touch was pressed together as Nicole gripped on devouring Waverly’s mouth with her own. The emotion and the feelings it was stirring within the vampire were overwhelming. Gasping she pulled away and tried to gather herself.

‘You okay?’ Waverly asked worried.

‘Yeah,’ Nicole nodded trying to appear convincing. ‘I just…’ she caught a glimpse of the clock. The time saved her. ‘I remembered you have school.’

‘You were thinking about school just then?’ Waverly asked raising an eyebrow.

‘Just being a considerate girlfriend,’ Nicole smiled.

‘You really are,’ Waverly moved in and placed one last lingering kiss on the vampire’s lips. ‘See you later.’ She clasped Nicole’s hand before she forced herself to leave the apartment and close the door behind her. As soon as she did, Nicole’s legs gave way and she crumpled to the floor. She coughed as nausea rose up inside her. She couldn’t leave. How could she? Leaving Waverly would break every part of that girl and every part of herself. But could she live with killing more people? With tears rolling down her cheeks, Nicole collapsed fully onto the floor wondering how she would ever be able to pick herself back up and make this decision.

 

‘And what time do you call this?’ Jeremy chortled as Waverly joined him in the school café. ‘You missed Math.’ Biting her tongue, Waverly sat down looking guilty. ‘One day the school is going to notice and what are you going to say? Sorry, I was too busy making out with my vampire girlfriend.’

‘Shhhhhhh!’ Waverly hissed hitting him on the arm. She looked around to see if anyone heard, but they were all too busy in their own conversations or getting to the next class.

With a giggle, Jeremy recoiled pretending that her hit had hurt him. ‘Did you see Wynonna this morning?’

Waverly’s face fell, ‘yes… she slammed the door in my face.’

‘She slammed the door in the face of someone offering a birthday balloon?’ Jeremy said surprised. ‘That’s birthday scroogeness.’

‘Yeah well,’ Waverly shrugged. ‘Nicole made a good point that she’s going through a lot right now, with Dolls and everything.’ She looked around. ‘Has she been at school?’

‘I haven’t seen her.’

‘Figures,’ Waverly sighed. ‘If you want to forget your birthday, why be around everyone that will remind you of it.’ She looked thoughtful. ‘But I feel we need to do something.’

‘Do something about what?’ came Nedley’s voice as he walked over.

‘About Wynonna,’ Waverly went on. ‘It’s her birthday today and she’s avoiding it. You don’t turn eighteen every day and I don’t want her to look back on it and regret not doing anything.’ She looked between Jeremy and Nedley trying to gauge their reactions. ‘Especially when it comes to being a slayer… surely every birthday you get to is some sort of achievement?’

‘Surprise birthday parties are always a little risky…’ Nedley began gently.

‘We don’t have to do anything big… just a gathering at Shorty’s or something, with drinks and presents,’ Waverly said excitedly. ‘I’ll invite her mum. She can make a mean cake.’

‘Will it taste like donuts?’ Jeremy asked. Waverly looked puzzled. ‘She loves donuts.’

‘So you’re in?’ Waverly asked tentatively.

‘I think it’s a lovely idea,’ Nedley smiled. ‘What do you need us to do?’

‘Jeremy, can you look into getting some decorations, balloons and get with Shorty’s that we can have the function area,’ Waverly said loving being in charge. ‘Nedley, can you source some presents, like cool ones… maybe a weapon?’ She stopped for a moment. ‘Strange sentence for any other teenager, but for Wynonna… she likes bashing and stabbing things.’

‘Occupational hazard,’ Nedley agreed. ‘I think I might be able to find something which will suit her. What about you? Anything else you need help with?’

‘Nope… I’m on cake and getting Wynonna there somehow duty,’ she grinned standing up. ‘Right people, to your posts.’ Holding her school folder and notepad like a clipboard of someone running a stage show, Waverly marched off down the corridor. Nedley and Jeremy couldn’t help but exchange an amused glance.

‘I guess I’m researching weapons suitable for birthday presents,’ Nedley said before heading off his own way down the corridor.

As Jeremy watched him go, he spotted Pete coming towards him, ‘hey… Pete!’ his shout caught the other boy’s attention. ‘How do you feel about skipping school and joining me in the search for birthday party decorations?’ At his intrigued expression, Jeremy knew Pete was on board.

 

It appeared as dilapidated as Doc’s house. The place was cleared of all the ruined furniture but the walls were still stained black and it still stunk of smoke and fire. Dolls was standing in the middle of the living room when he heard Wynonna enter the room.

‘Wynonna?’ he said surprised. ‘I didn’t expect…’

‘Had to see how you were doing,’ Wynonna told him as she looked around. ‘I like what you’ve done with the place.’

Doc ignored her comment. ‘Shouldn’t you be at school?’ he asked.

‘Yeah there are a lot of things I should be doing today,’ Wynonna said coldly.

‘You’re avoiding something?’

‘Me,’ Wynonna laughed sadly. She looked down at her hands awkwardly. ‘It’s my birthday.’

‘Shouldn’t that be a happy time?’ he frowned.

Wynonna avoided his eye contact, ‘not feeling too happy…’

Dolls hated seeing her so upset and began to move towards her, ‘anything I can do?’

It was what she wanted to hear, ‘well I thought…’ she started but she was cut off when Dolls suddenly doubled over appearing in pain.

‘Sorry… I…’ he gritted his teeth and grabbed his stomach. ‘This keeps happening… it’ll pass…’

‘You okay?’ Wynonna asked reaching out to touch his back.

‘No!’ he cried. ‘Stay back!’ She jumped back startled. As he stared at her his eyes momentarily glowed red. However, after a few seconds, Dolls gained control and they returned to normal. Despite this, the pain still remained. ‘The serum isn’t quite right,’ he gasped closing his eyes with the burning searing through him.

‘Is there anything I can do?’ Wynonna asked hating seeing the state he was in.

Dolls put his head down and shook it, ‘no… I don’t want you to see me like this…’ he groaned. ‘I think you should go.’

Anguish was now showing on the slayer’s face as she realised the comfort she needed was not available, ‘are you sure?’ She knew the answer, but hoped to be wrong.

‘Yes,’ he breathed out.

Without another word and holding back tears, Wynonna turned away from Dolls as he concentrated on blocking out the agony. The encounter only instilled more hatred for this day in the slayer as she ran away.

 

The rundown house wouldn’t offer much comfort but Wynonna hoped what she found inside would. When she entered the living room, she saw that she had come to the right place with the way she was feeling. Doc had managed to acquire a old, worn and ripped sofa and was sitting on it staring at another bottle of whiskey. He looked up but did not smile as the slayer walked over and took a seat beside him. They sat in silence for a moment before Wynonna held her hand out. Doc looked at it, then at Wynonna. She had the same vacant lost look in her eyes as he was wearing in his. Recognising the hurt, he handed the bottle over so Wynonna could take a long swig. Despite how it burned and caused her face to crease, she took another then another before she handed the bottle back to Doc. Even though they had said nothing, as they sat there in the dark, they knew that this was how it was going to be as they continued to share the liquor.

 

Tentatively, the vampire made his way down the passage which led into the candlelit cave. In his hands, he clutched onto a brown paper bag. He was guarding it like it was gold. With a quick step, he approached Bobo who sat brooding in his chair.

‘Sir…’ he said carefully once he stood in front of the demon.

‘Do you have it?’ Bobo asked without looking at him. His eyes were fixed on the floor as he stroked his forehead as if a thought was deeply troubling him.

‘I have made sure it met the exact specifications,’ the vampire nodded looking a little proud.

‘Virgin?’ Bobo pressed still not looking round.

‘Young,’ the vampire grinned. ‘She screamed beautifully.’

‘All that matters is the blood,’ Bobo snapped annoyed at his pleasure. ‘Because she could not enjoy the kill!’ He now looked round furious. ‘Hand it over!’ The smile had been wiped off the vampire’s face quickly as he handed over the bag. Bobo snatched it with a glare before peering inside. ‘It better be fresh and warm?’

‘Out of the body less than thirty minutes,’ the vampire told him nervously.

Bobo studied him and snarled, ‘get out of my sight… vampires never cease to repulse me…’ without hesitation the vampire turned and stumbled out of the cave. Bobo watched him go with his eyes glowing red to show his disgust. Slowly they returned to normal as his thoughts focused on another. ‘That is all but one…’

Gripping the bag tightly, Bobo made his way out of the cave and down another passage. This one did not have steps leading up to the surface, instead it stayed underground. After a few meters, Bobo turned into another smaller cave, also lit with candles. In the centre of it stood a large four poster bed draped in red sheets. It looked like it belonged in a palace rather than a dark, damp cave. With a smile, Bobo paused before walking over to it. Softly, he sat down on the side and gazed down at the woman lying underneath the covers.

‘How are you feeling my love?’

Willa’s face was barely recognisable. The scars from burns covered most of one side with some patches on the other. She was without any of her usual make up and her hair was dishevelled and matted from her wounds. ‘Better now you are here,’ she whispered her voice broken and weak.

‘I’ve bought exactly what you asked for,’ Bobo told her showing her the bag. ‘I got the boys to find precisely what you wanted.’ Unable to push herself up, Willa gestured for the bag to be placed on the bed beside her. After she had done so, Bobo placed a tender hand on the side of her face that was less injured. ‘Is there anything else I can for you?’

‘Yes actually…’ Willa said her eyes brightening slightly as she brought her hand to Bobo’s. ‘When I was asleep, I saw candles…’

Bobo chuckled, ‘my love… you are surrounded by candles.’

‘No,’ Willa said a little agitated. ‘These were dancing and had singing. I think they were birthday candles. Then I saw the slayer…’ She spoke slowly as the memories came to her.

‘You had a vision?’ Bobo asked a little excited. ‘Tell me, did the slayer burn due to these candles?’

‘What a lovely idea indeed,’ Willa smiled, but weakly due to her burns. ‘I do believe it is her birthday.’

‘The slayer’s birthday?’ Bobo checked.

Willa’s eyes suddenly had a malicious twinkle in them, ‘I thought… we could deliver our very own present.’

Now, Bobo’s eyes were also glinting menacingly, ‘oh my love… what did you have in mind?’

Willa paused as the thought lingered in her mind, then slowly her mouth curled into a sneer, ‘The Order.’

‘The Order?’ Bobo snarled in delight. ‘Why they haven’t been raised in over a hundred years.’

Willa nodded, ‘so they’ll be very hungry…’

Bobo stared down at Willa adoringly, ‘even in your weakened state, your mind is an amazing thing.’ Carefully, he found the part of Willa’s lips untouched by burns and kissed them gently. ‘We’ll give the slayer a birthday she will never forget for what she did to you.’ He squeezed her hand before he rose from the bed and marched out of the small cave. He had work to do.

 

With the room beginning to spin a little and her limbs beginning to feel like they weren’t her own, Wynonna knew the drink was working. However, it was not helping her to forget Dolls. It was only the beep of her phone in her pocket that pulled her away from her thoughts. She pulled it out and swiped the screen to the see the message.

‘Shorty’s 7pm, be there,’ Waverly had written. Wynonna groaned and dropped her head back on the sofa.

‘Trouble?’ Doc asked looking up from the bottle.

‘The worst,’ Wynonna muttered.

‘Demons?’

‘No… worse…’ Wynonna sat back up again. ‘Birthday.’

‘Birthday?’ Doc frowned. ‘Who’s?’

‘Mine.’

‘Oh,’ he blinked surprised. ‘Well…’ he held the bottle up. ‘Happy Birthday!’ He took a large swig and handed it over to Wynonna.

‘It’s not feeling particularly happy,’ she grumbled drinking more of the whiskey down.

‘Aren’t birthdays always happy?’ Doc asked. ‘My understanding is there’s presents and cake.’

‘It’s different for me,’ Wynonna told him staring at her phone at the message. ‘Every time I reach a birthday now it’s a celebration of how I haven’t died… not the fact that I’ve lived.’

‘Not if you choose to look at it the other way,’ Doc told her with a comforting smile. ‘Being the slayer isn’t all that you are.’

‘Isn’t it?’ Wynonna eyes were sad and tired as she looked at him. ‘Not one part of my life is untouched by demons or darkness… and Dolls…’ she stopped as the emotion hit her. ‘I really like him Doc, but he can’t control who he is enough to hold me when I need him to.’

Doc smiled sympathetically, ‘I think the man would if he could.’

‘But he can’t…’

‘It may not always be so…’ Wynonna lightened a little so show she was appreciating his words. ‘Until then… do you want to look back on this day and know that you sat in the dark with a brooding man drowning his sorrows when you have friends that are clearly preparing something a whole lot more enjoyable?’

‘I was quite enjoying this,’ Wynonna shrugged.

‘And I… but Miss Wynonna…’ he got to his feet rather unsteadily. ‘I am not going to let this be your birthday.’ He offered her his hand. ‘I mean you only turn…’ he frowned and looked at her.

‘Eighteen,’ she filled in.

His eyes widened in a little surprise, ‘a woman in her prime. You only turn eighteen once…’ he shook his outstretched hand to indicate that he intended for her to take it. ‘… and damn woman, we are going to celebrate it.’ As the slayer took his hand, gingerly he pulled her up. It took Wynonna few moments to recover as she realised just how drunk she was. Doc noticed. ‘Maybe after we’ve drunk something that’s not alcohol…?’

‘Yep,’ Wynonna agreed sitting back down. ‘I think that would be a very good idea…’

 

Turning the corner, Nicole remained behind the pillar as she gazed over at Waverly and Jeremy as they were hard at work setting up the last of the decorations. She couldn’t help but smile in adoration at how happily Waverly went about her task. Thought and care had been put into every detail. She hadn’t let Wynonna’s reaction that morning deter her from making sure she made her friend happy. As she watched, Nicole had no idea how she would possibly be able to ever tear herself away. Despite this, she would have to. She would never be able to live with herself if she ever hurt anyone innocent and she knew that Waverly would never forgive herself if she was the reason why. Nicole would enjoy this night and she would make sure Waverly did too.

‘Hey you…’ the words pulled the vampire out of her thoughts as Waverly skipped over.

It was time to pretend. ‘Hey,’ Nicole beamed accepting Waverly’s greeting kiss.

‘What do you think?’ Waverly asked gesturing to the function corner which was adorned with streamers, balloons and bunting. On the middle table sat a box containing a cake and various presents wrapped and perfectly presented - mainly because Pete and Jeremy had been fussing over them for the past ten minutes.

‘She’s going to love it,’ Nicole told her slightly apprehensive girlfriend.

‘You think so?’

‘How could she not?’ Nicole assured her.

Waverly checked her phone, ‘she hasn’t replied to my text, I told her to be here at seven.’ It was now seven thirty. The happiness had turned to worry on the young human’s face.

‘Baby… she’ll be here,’ Nicole stepped forward kissed Waverly’s forehead hoping it would bring some comfort. As she did so, Waverly nodded wanted to believe it and put her phone back in her pocket.

‘Until then… maybe you can distract me?’ Waverly said suggestively.

‘Oh really?’ Nicole giggled as the two pressed their bodies together. ‘Right here, in the middle of Shorty’s?’

Waverly looked around remembering that Shorty’s was still open to the public and therefore there was the chance that people from school might be around. However, as she gazed up Nicole she realised that it didn’t bother her as much as she thought it would.

‘I don’t care…’ she grasped. She looked surprised at herself.

‘You don’t?’

Waverly breathed out at the realisation, ‘no… I really don’t.’ She focused on Nicole’s eyes. ‘I’m a freak and an outcast anyway according to half the school…’ she laughed. ‘Now I can be a freak and an outcast with a ridiculously hot girlfriend.’

‘Who happens to be a vampire,’ Nicole whispered.

‘Well…’ Waverly sniggered as their lips got closer. ‘They don’t need to know that bit…’ Their lips were just about to touch when they heard footsteps quickly making their way over. They looked round to see Jeremy approaching looking very excited.

‘She’s here!’

‘Oh jeez!’ Waverly pulled herself from Nicole but held the vampire’s hand so she could pull her over to the function area where Nedley and Alice were already hiding. Jeremy slid himself underneath the table whilst Waverly pulled Nicole close to her behind a pillar off to the side. All of them watched the door closely.

 

‘So… do I look drunk?’ Wynonna asked steadying herself and blinking a few too many times.

Doc stared at her wondering what the correct answer would be, ‘not to me you don’t.’ It was the truth. He was also inebriated enough that his judgement was severely compromised.

‘That’s good enough for me,’ Wynonna said pointing clumsily. She turned and faced Shorty’s her stomach feeling with dread. ‘Blood birthdays!’

‘Remember, smile and be happy!’ Doc called after her as Wynonna began to walk towards the door. Wynonna didn’t reply. She was too busy focusing on walking properly and all the coordination she needed to open the door without pulling it off its hinges with too much strength. She was able to do so then proceeded inside.

Once inside, the music from Pete’s band hit her ears as he began to play a rock version of happy birthday on his guitar accompanied by his band mates. At this, to her right, Waverly, Nedley, Alice and Jeremy jumped out screaming ‘surprise!’

It was her time to pretend. Plastering the biggest grin she could muster on her face, Wynonna widened her eyes and walked over, ‘oh my god guys… really?’

‘Happy Birthday darling,’ Alice smiled pulling her into a tight hug.

Over Alice’s shoulder, Wynonna glared at Waverly and mouthed, ‘my mother?’ Waverly just shrugged innocently. Once out of the hug, Wynonna’s face turned back to looking pleased. ‘Thank you Mum.’

‘Happy Birthday,’ Nedley said placing an affectionate hand on her shoulder.

‘This was all you wasn’t it?’ Wynonna said looking at Waverly.

‘Guilty,’ Waverly smiled.

Wynonna looked around, actually acknowledging the decorations, the presents and the fact that all the people she loved were around her. With a real smile, Wynonna took Waverly into an embrace, ‘thank you Waves.’ She held on for a few extra moments hoping it would act as an apology for her morning’s reaction.

‘Look…’ Waverly said excitedly. ‘Presents.’

‘I do like presents,’ Wynonna agreed. The group moved to the table sitting Wynonna in the middle of them. From afar, Doc watched pleased that Wynonna was actually having fun. Instead of joining them, he made his way to the bar ready to order himself another drink. Wynonna noticed this. A part of her wished that she could join him. However, she knew that she owed herself and Waverly to be exactly where she was.

 

The cake, covered in mini donuts, had mostly been devoured, the presents, of which most were weapons, had been opened. Now, the group were dispersed around Shorty’s. Jeremy was standing at the edge of the dance floor watching Pete’s band play, trying to look as nonchalant as he could, rather than like a groupie. Nedley was standing nearby as he once had enjoyed attending gigs in his youth. Watching Pete was reminding him of that time. Wynonna sat with Nicole and Waverly.

‘So… how much did you drink with Doc today?’ Waverly asked playfully.

Wynonna creased up her face, ‘was it obvious?’

‘Only a little,’ Waverly teased. ‘I don’t think your mum or Nedley noticed.’

Bowing her head, Wynonna looked a little ashamed, ‘I just wanted today to go away… I went to see Dolls.’

‘How is he?’ Waverly asked softly.

Wynonna swallowed painfully, ‘not good…’

Waverly reached across and clutched Wynonna’s hand. ‘Is he getting more the medicine from Jeremy?’

‘Yes… but he’s been so long without it, it’s not working as quickly as we would like. Plus he’s trying, but Jeremy’s mix isn’t what he was getting from the Initiative.’

‘Give it time.’ Waverly looked over at Doc who was sitting at the bar staring into his drink. ‘But maybe don’t spend all that time with Doc… not that he’s a bad guy, just that sad with sad… not a way to move on.’

Wynonna looked over at Doc, ‘he doesn’t say much… but what he says… is enough,’ she looked back at the two next to her. ‘You know?’

‘If I didn’t know better… I’d say that you might like Doc…’ Nicole observed.

‘What?’ Wynonna almost cried out. ‘Noooo… no…. no way… nuh uh… nope, no chance…’

‘She does protest too much,’ Waverly chuckled.

‘He’s completely hooked on Rosita… seriously, he’s absolutely cut up,’ Wynonna pointed out.

‘Maybe it’s what you both need…’ Nicole suggested.

Wynonna stared at them both stunned, ‘you can’t be serious?’ Still trying to comprehend what they were suggesting, Wynonna grabbed her plastic cup of coke and got up from the table. She thought about going over to Doc, but saw that in front of Waverly and Nicole that would not be a good idea. Instead she went and stood next to Jeremy beside the dance floor.

‘Well that was interesting…’ Waverly said.

‘She shouldn’t be drinking so much when she’s so young…’ Nicole said worried as she looked over at Wynonna. ‘You’re going to need to watch that.’

‘I think it’s just a birthday thing,’ Waverly said her eyes also on the slayer. ‘I will watch it though.’ She then turned back to Nicole. ‘Looks like we’re on our own again…’

‘It looks like we are…’ Nicole agreed wrapping her hand around Waverly’s waist to pull her closer.

Waverly leaned in for a kiss, but Nicole stopped her so that she could take in Waverly’s face and all its beautiful features. Tenderly, she ran her fingers over Waverly’s forehead and down her cheek, slowly and deliberately so that she could admire every part that they touched. She wanted to commit it all to memory, not that she would have any trouble forgetting the only thing that she had ever loved.

‘You okay?’ Waverly asked noticing Nicole’s slightly troubled expression.

‘I just…’ she couldn’t find the words to explain what her eyes could see. ‘You amaze me… every day… in some new way.’ Waverly looked away bashfully, but Nicole pulled her back. ‘You know that don’t you? How amazing you are?’ Her face was now serious and a little urgent. It puzzled Waverly. ‘I just want you to know… I’ve never loved anyone else and I won’t… ever again.’

‘Okay… you’re worrying me…’

Nicole didn’t have a chance to answer as a mighty crash ran out throughout the bar causing everything to come to a sudden stop.

 

Leaping from their seats, Waverly and Nicole flew out from behind the table to see what had caused such a noise. It didn’t take a long time before they saw the cause of the sound of splintering glass and wood. Ten hooded figures in crimson red cloaks had burst into the bar carrying an array of weapons. Pete’s band had stopped immediately as everyone stared in fright at the gate crashers.

‘What the…’ Waverly breathed out as Nicole moved in front of her. She put an arm across Waverly making sure she was protected. ‘Who the hell are they?’

‘I have no idea…’ Nicole muttered under her breath. ‘Just stay behind me.’

Slowly, the figure furthest forward brought his hands to his hood and pushed it back revealing his grotesque form underneath. His red leathery skin shone in the lights from the stage. Two small yellow horns protruded from his forehead and his yellow teeth were sharp and jagged as he opened his mouth to speak. ‘Slayer!’ he cried out in a long drawn out bellow.

Over at the bar, Wynonna held her breath for a moment as she stared at him. ‘Please tell me that these are some sort of weird niche strippers that you ordered for me?’ She said to Doc.

‘I’m afraid my lady,’ he replied not taking his eyes off of the creatures in front of them. ‘They are not.’

‘Where… is… the… slayer!?’ the creature cried again clearly impatient.

Wynonna glanced over at Waverly who was staring at her from behind Nicole’s arm. She saw Waverly shake her head, but Wynonna knew she had no choice. She grabbed Doc’s drink from his hand and finished it off before stepping forward away from the bar. ‘Do you know that it’s my birthday?’ she called over to them as she approached. ‘And I’m having a party… saying the way you entered this bar was rude would be an understatement.’

With a slow deliberate turn, the creature’s mouth curled into a satisfied snarl, ‘it is because it’s your birthday, that we are here.’ He gestured to the figures still hooded behind him. One by one they revealed themselves like he had done before. Each of them had the same leathery red skin, horns and jagged teeth. They were almost a complete match of each other.

‘Oh,’ Wynonna said surprised. ‘Have you got presents?’ She gestured to the weapons and looked excited. ‘Are these for me?’ She began to eye up the axe in his hand. Doc shook his head knowing it was the alcohol causing her judgement to be so wayward.

Wickedly, the demon looked at his axe and then at Wynonna, ‘it is… but not in the way you think…’ the menacing look in his eyes caused the smile on Wynonna’s face to vanish quickly. ‘And it’s not my will that controls my hand.’

‘Who controls your hand?’ Wynonna asked now very serious.

‘The deliverer of your birthday gift, the one that would like to ensure that you do not see the end of it, wounded due to your hand, wounded perhaps beyond repair… is…’ he paused as he thought of her. ‘Willa.’ Stunned, Wynonna looked at Waverly and Nicole who wore similar shocked expressions. ‘You thought you had slain her,’ the demon realised with pleasure. ‘Well, she is very much alive!’ he spread his arms and held them up as if praising something above him. ‘And she has freed us!’ To this the other demons roared deeply creating a sound that rumbled through every person in the bar. ‘Freed us…’ he brought his arms back down and held out his axe to Wynonna. ‘… to kill you.’

Swallowing, Wynonna backed up looking for a weapon, ‘I’m so glad my mother went home early so she doesn’t have to see this,’ she murmured under her breath as she found a pool cue. She looked at Nedley and Jeremy, ‘get everyone you can out… now.’ They nodded and began to usher people away. Wynonna turned back to the demons spinning the cue in front of her. She was so relieved the drunken feeling had worn off very quickly with her imperative need to sober up. ‘I am not dying on my birthday… it’s just mean.’

‘Help her…’ Waverly urged Nicole.

Nicole looked back at Waverly, ‘I have to protect you.’

‘If you kill them before they get to me, you’ll save me and everyone else in this bar…’ Waverly pressed. ‘Plus…’ she raised her hand as a black mass began to swirl in her palm. ‘I have some of my own tricks.’

Buoyed by this Nicole kissed Waverly’s head quickly before running to Wynonna’s side. ‘You’re not dying today slayer,’ she said glaring at the demons. ‘At least not on your birthday.’

‘I really hope not,’ Wynonna exhaled holding the pool cue ready to fight.

‘You do know you have a load of new weapons on the table?’ Nicole quipped.

‘I don’t want to get blood on them… they’re my presents,’ Wynonna retorted back with a slight sulk.

‘Enough!’ the lead demon bellowed. Both women returned their attention to him as he held his axe up. ‘Let’s dance…’

Instantly, he launched himself forward but Wynonna ducked his advance and used her elbow to send him flying into the pillar behind her. Without having to say it, Nicole and Wynonna guarded each other as they stood back to back as the demon’s attacked. They spun and whirled and twisted to repel the demons as they threw punches and their weapons at them making sure they kept their position. If they were pulled from it, they worked quickly to get back to guarding the other. Wynonna used her cue to strike it across the demon’s faces or to cut down their legs taking their balance away from them. When they hit the floor, they hit it hard. Nicole relied on her hands and quick reactions. They worked well as she blocked punches and used the demon’s strength and pace against them. They were strong, but also very clumsy. This allowed Nicole to rebuff them easily and send them crashing and tumbling across the bar.

At first it seemed like the slayer and vampire were on top of them, but there were simply too many and soon one of the punches landed Nicole on the floor. In taking the time to pick her up, Wynonna felt a kick slam into her back sending her flying over Nicole and sprawling into another pillar. Nicole tried to help, but a kick landed to her ribs sent her flailing. Groaning, Wynonna pulled herself to her feet but had to act quickly as two demons were on her. One snatched the pool cue out of her hand and threw it away leaving her without a weapon. Before she knew it, a huge hand was gripped around her neck and Wynonna began to feel panic flood into the entire of her body. The hand began to close and air became difficult to inhale.

However, it wasn’t there long as suddenly something hit the demon’s shoulder causing him to scream in pain and drop Wynonna to the floor. Looking beyond him, Wynonna could see that Waverly had entered the fray with her own weapons. Her hands held out wide, fire burned in her palms and she was throwing balls of flames at the demons. After throwing one of the demons into the wall, Nicole looked up as flame whistled past her sending a demon staggering back onto the dance floor which was now empty thanks to Nedley and Jeremy’s quick work to get people out. As the demon did so, Pete appeared and smashed a chair over its head rendering it unconscious.

‘That’s what you get for crashing my first gig in months!’ he shouted angrily.

Still the flames flew through the air as Waverly began to cause the demons to retreat. As they did so, Wynonna and Nicole continued to fight those that were determined to battle on. Yet, the demons skin was thicker than first appeared and the group watched in horror as their wounds healed rapidly enabling them to re-join the fight quickly.

‘Who the hell are these guys?’ Jeremy asked Nedley as they came back into the bar having got everyone else who had been inside to safety.

‘The Order were the law in Purgatory hundreds of years ago, but in order to gain strength and power they involved themselves in a cult. Unfortunately, a ritual they did went wrong and it cursed them to become the creatures that they are.’ Nedley replied. ‘I thought they were a myth.’

Jeremy’s eyes fell upon the massive fight as they made it back to the dance floor area, ‘this is one myth that might just be legend which is very real…’ he gasped at the sight.

From the bar, Doc was trying to help with his bullets, but they merely wounded the demons and the wounds healed quickly. Frustrated he kept firing, determined to help, until one of the demons ambushed him from behind. It picked him up by his coat and sent him sliding along the bar, knocking off all the glasses and drinks as he went. He hit the end hard and toppled onto the floor. Taking chairs with him, his body landed with a sickening thud on the wooden floor. From where he lay gripping his throbbing side, Doc watched as Waverly desperately continued to pummel the demons with the balls of flame, as Nicole continued to bend and turn and lash at everything that was coming at her and as Wynonna endured another fist to the face and a near miss from a sword which sliced through her leather coat and drew blood on her sleeve.

Then without warning, Waverly doubled over coughing the fire in her hands dimming and disappearing. All the strength she had been using for the magic was gone. A demon recognised it and charged towards her.

‘Waverly!’ screamed Nicole. She tried to pass the demon she was fighting but he was joined by another and her path to Waverly’s side was blocked. The distraction was enough for the demon to punch her to the ground. But she was not going to let anyone hurt the woman she loved. Spurred by her desperation, she morphed her face and used the back of her hand to drive up into the demon’s face. It soared six feet in the air almost colliding with the ceiling before a kick to the other’s neck caused a similar reaction. Her path cleared she pushed through the other demons and launched her body into the one advancing on Waverly. Once it was on the ground, Nicole stripped it of its weapon and drove the sword deep into its chest with such force the sword penetrated the floor. The demon did not die; it writhed and roared but it was stuck. Nicole only watched for a few seconds to ensure that it was harmless, before she took Waverly into her arms. ‘We have to get out of here.’ She looked at Nedley who had also rushed to Waverly’s side, ‘we have to get everyone out… we can’t beat these things.’

‘I’ll take her… you get Wynonna,’ Nedley agreed starting to lead Waverly out with Jeremy. Doc had risen to his feet and continued to use his bullets as cover. If they could not kill, at least the bullets caused the demons momentary pain which weakened them. Snatching up one of Wynonna’s birthday weapons, Nicole removed a beautiful silver dagger from its cover and began driving it into every demon that came her way. Its razor sharp edge sliced through their skin easily causing nasty slashing wounds. Once she had reached the slayer, Nicole grabbed Wynonna’s arm and pulled her away from trying to defend herself against three of the red skinned creatures.

‘We have to go…’ Nicole urged. ‘We can’t win this.’

Wynonna was not going to argue. Blood was pouring from the wound on her arm and her face was beaten and bruised. With the vampire by her side, the two weaved through the rest of the demons towards the exit just about making it out of the back door. Doc’s arms greeted Wynonna as she fell into them exhausted.

‘Get her to safety,’ Nicole ordered. ‘Somewhere where they can’t find her… if Willa commands this, they won’t stop hunting her until they’ve killed her.’ Doc simply nodded and led Wynonna away. She clung to him trying to catch her breath and deal with the pain from the beating she had taken.

‘Nicole…’ came a weak voice from the shadows.,                                                                                  

Nicole whirled round to see Waverly appear from them, ‘Waves…’ Nicole gasped taking Waverly into her arms. ‘What the hell are you doing here on your own?’ She looked around. ‘Where are Nedley and Jeremy?’

‘Jeremy went to find Pete and Nedley is getting the car… he told me to hide here.’

Nicole looked furious, ‘he left you alone?’

‘I was too weak to walk,’ Waverly said. ‘It was quicker…’

From inside they heard an enraged roar, ‘we’re not hanging around here…’ Using her strength, Nicole picked up Waverly cradling her before taking off into the night. Around the corner, the vampire’s car was waiting. Gently she placed Waverly in the front seat before racing around to the driver’s side. With the roof down, Nicole jumped in and started the car before screaming it into gear and tearing out of the alley and into the street. She had barely driven a few seconds before her headlights set upon one of the demons standing in the middle of the road.

‘Nicole!’ Waverly screamed at the sight of it. Desperately, Nicole tried to veer round but it was too much of a tight turn and the car spun out of control and slammed into a wall on the other side of the road. For a moment all was still as the car came to rest. As smoke rose from the bonnet, Nicole’s first thought was to Waverly. Beside her, Waverly was groggy as blood dripped from her nose which had collided with the front of the car.

‘Baby?’ Nicole asked urgently clasping Waverly’s face in her hands. ‘Baby are you okay?’ Waverly didn’t have time to argue as the sound of numerous stomping feet rang out through the night air. Looking round, Waverly stared in horror at The Order which had regrouped and were now outside approaching them. Morphing her face once again, Nicole sprung majestically over Waverly landing on the road barring the creatures’ way to the human.

Tears of fear began to build in Waverly’s eyes, ‘Nicole, there are too many…’

‘They are not getting you… on my life, they are not laying a finger on you,’ her fists clenched as she fought the dread that built inside her. At least her love for Waverly was stronger than how truly frightened she was. As if reflecting the tears gathering in Waverly’s eyes, rain began to pour down on the pair and the demon pack approaching them, weapons drawn and foreboding.

One after the other the came for Nicole and one after the other she managed to rebuff their attacks. Waverly had never seen the vampire fight like it before. It was as if she was possessed and had suddenly gained some greater power. She used every bit of strength she had to beat the demons back, sending their bodies across the road, into walls and sprawling into each other. Wrenching their weapons out of their hands, she used them against them, jamming them into their faces or slicing through their red flesh. It appeared, at first, that Nicole was winning.

Then one got lucky.

A solid kick to the face sent her flying backwards into the car. Waverly heard the crack of Nicole’s cheek bone against the metal. Disorientated Nicole met Waverly’s eyes and despite the agony, she stood back up in front of her girlfriend to take another hit. She fell to her knees as the demons surrounded her.

‘Waverly… run!’ Nicole ordered before receiving another blow to the face. She was not going to move from the spot, not until Waverly was safe.

‘No…’ Waverly argued climbing out of the car. ‘I’m not leaving you…’

Nicole blocked a punch from one of the demons and shoved him back into another. As she did so, she heard the screech of tyres and was grateful to see Pete’s van came screaming around the corner.

‘You have to go… now!’ she pointed to the van. ‘This is your chance.’

As the van pulled up, the side door swung open and Pete jumped out. With Jeremy at the wheel, Pete used his werewolf strength within to beat some of the demons back.

‘Nicole!’ he cried. ‘Get into the van!’

She could barely see him through the rain, but she could see the demons. ‘Get Waverly out of here!’ she screamed back just managing to defend herself against another demon’s attack.

‘No Nicole!’ Waverly pleaded. ‘I’m not leaving you!’

‘You have to… please baby…’

‘Come on…’ Pete grabbed hold of her arm and began to drag her away.

‘Get off me!’ he tried to pull his hands of her but he was too strong. When she looked back at Nicole, she was on the floor again. Soaked from the rain with blood dripping from her injuries, she rolled on the floor as the demon’s surrounded. ‘Nicole…’ No matter how Waverly fought against Pete’s grip, he was not going to let go. He knew what Nicole needed him to do. He knew that he could not help the vampire. To ensure that he carried out his task successfully, he wrapped his arms around Waverly’s waist to drag her more quickly into the van. Waverly could only writhe and scream against him as her tears were lost in the rain soaking them through. The last thing she saw before the door slammed closed once she was hauled into the van was Nicole being beaten down repeatedly and a demon raising his weapon.

 

Catching their breath, Wynonna and Doc flew in through the front door. They both rushed inside and closed the door behind them immediately making sure it was locked. Dripping onto the wooden floor beneath their feet they peered through the curtain to see if they had been followed.

‘It appears that we may have lost our demon friends,’ Doc sighed taking off his hat. It was heavy from the rain. He wiped his brow and allowed himself to breathe.

‘For now,’ Wynonna agreed stepping back. She looked around them. ‘Whose house is this?’

‘I have no idea,’ Doc shrugged. He then spotted a pile of letters and newspapers on the floor beside them. ‘But it seems they have not been home for a while.’ After running through the fields away from Shorty’s, Doc and Wynonna had sought refuge in the first house they could find and they were in luck that all its lights were off.

Turning from Wynonna, Doc made his way into the kitchen placing his guns on the table. Wynonna turned on the light to see him rummaging through the cupboards. When he straightened he held exactly what he had been looking for, a bottle of liquor.

Wynonna looked a little unimpressed, ‘drinking? Really?’

‘My lady, this is unfortunately not for us to savour,’ he said as he continued to look around. In one of the drawers he found some cloths and took them out. He dampened them under the tap then added a little of the vodka before returning to Wynonna showing that his intention was to clean her wounds.

Touched, Wynonna leant back against the table and allowed Doc to proceed. ‘Sorry…’ she mumbled before wincing as he cleaned a cut on her cheek.

‘Your presumption was understandable,’ he assured her being gentle in his work.

‘Do you think the others are okay?’ she asked looking up.

Doc wished he had the answer, ‘I am praying that they are,’ he said.

‘We have to find them,’ she moved to get up but Doc put a hand to her shoulder to stop her from doing so.

‘What you have to do, is stay hidden,’ he told her firmly. ‘Even if we find them, we cannot take on all those demons and you… you look like you could barely last another round.’ He remembered the cut on her arm. ‘I need to see that…’ Gingerly, Wynonna shrugged off her jacket and then pulled her top over her head so that she was sitting in only her underwear in front of Doc. He blinked for a moment and turned away. He coughed awkwardly, ‘I’m sorry… but did you mean to…’

Wynonna looked down at her revealed upper half, ‘sorry… I can…’ she reached for her top and held it over her chest and stomach. ‘You may turn round.’

Doc did so tentatively and was relieved that Wynonna’s modesty was returned. Now he could focus on the nasty cut on her arm. It had stopped bleeding but needed bandaging. Doc took one of the cloths and ripped it up so that he could tie pieces around her arm to cover the wound.

‘I’m sure they have bandages…’ Wynonna said with a little smile. ‘This is the 21st century.’

‘Sometimes the old ways hold their own graces,’ Doc smiled back. As he did so, their eyes met and held and suddenly Wynonna saw something in him that she had not seen before. There was true kindness in them, behind the pain and heartbreak over Rosita. There was a spark. Before she knew what she was doing she leaned up and kissed him. ‘Woah…’ Doc breathed out stepping back and putting his hands up. ‘I do apologise, I do not mean to make you feel…’

‘Who said anything about feeling?’ Wynonna asked standing up and letting her top fall from her hands.

Doc tried desperately not to look where his eyes desperately wanted to, ‘Wynonna… you are a young woman…’

‘Who is having the worst birthday ever,’ she cut in. ‘My friends could be dead, I’ve been cut to bits… and I didn’t even get to enjoy my cake!’ Tears began to appear in her eyes as her anger softened. ‘I just want to feel something good…’

‘You think I’m good?’ Doc said lowering his hands. ‘Not a drunken lowlife with no purpose in this world?’

‘I believe you have a purpose,’ Wynonna told him as she moved closer. ‘A new purpose in this new life… you just haven’t found it yet.’ Doc found himself breathing deeply as Wynonna moved only a few inches from him. ‘You are a good man Doc, as you have shown by protecting me so many times now.’

As Wynonna reached up and touched his face, he closed his eyes, ‘but you are so young Wynonna…’

‘Eighteen now,’ she whispered.

‘That is still young,’ he said opening his eyes again. Despite her cuts and bruises, he could appreciate her beauty as it stood so close in front of him. ‘And my heart is not…’

‘I don’t want your heart… I just want to feel something good… it is my birthday.’

Doc eyes drifted down to her lips, ‘there are strange forces at work here…’

‘Then let them take over.’

Without another word, their lips crashed together as Doc found himself forgetting the woman that had been haunting him. Placing his hands on her waist he pushed her up against the wall as she put her arms around his neck. Grabbing hold of the collar Wynonna pushed Doc’s saturated coat off his shoulders until it landed on the floor. It landed heavily, but neither of them noticed as hands found flesh and their tongues found each other’s. Soon, Wynonna found her back against the kitchen table and Doc between her legs.

‘Wait…’ Wynonna breathed out.

‘Are you okay?’ Doc asked worried.

He watched the rise and fall of her chest as she gathered her thoughts, ‘this is… I mean… I… haven’t…’

Doc understood straight away, ‘oh no…’ he stumbled back horrified. ‘I can’t…’

‘Why?’ Wynonna asked timidly. In this, she was no longer the slayer; she was just a normal girl.

‘It should be someone you love… someone who…’

‘In an ideal world,’ Wynonna stated. ‘But we don’t live in one Doc. The man I thought I could love, is a demon who can’t control it…’

‘But you could at least love him…’ Doc went on going to pick up his clothes.

Wynonna realised the error in her words and leapt off the table, ‘no… that’s not…’ she cupped his face to make him look at her. ‘I am not a normal girl Doc, I am never going to have a normal life with the normal ideals. Meet a guy, fall in love and he provides dinner, roses, candlelight and a four poster bed in some woodland cabin setting.’ Her hands moved to his bare broad shoulders. ‘I’ve got ten demons hunting me which I can’t kill… so damn it if this is my last night alive…’ she looked up into his eyes. ‘I want to spend it like this.’ Doc still looked unsure. ‘I might love him Doc and you love Rosita, but surely we can find solace in each other?’

On this Doc had to agree, ‘there is no better solace than in the arms of a beautiful woman.’ Wynonna smiled as he wrapped his arms around her waist. ‘As long as you are in no doubt…’

‘None at all,’ having sobered up completely Wynonna knew there was no alcohol clouding her judgement, her thinking was clear.

‘Well… we must find another room to accommodate our needs,’ he said sweeping her up in his arms. ‘For I shall not create the memory of your first here.’

Carefully, Doc carried Wynonna up the stairs and used his foot to push open one of the doors he found. It was the master bedroom. Walking in, Doc lay Wynonna down gently on the bed. He gazed at her for a moment understanding the importance of his role for the slayer that night. A little nervously, Wynonna used her elbows to shuffle back beckoning Doc to come with her. When she reached the pillows she lay down and welcomed Doc’s body on top of her. In her head, thoughts swirled and worries pestered along with the sting and ache of her many wounds but when Doc kissed her, all was quiet and all she could think about was him.

 

Drenched, Waverly stumbled into the flat. Her eyes were red from crying and her face showed exhaustion and complete despair. She didn’t know what to focus on first as her eyes flitted between Nicole’s belongings in the boxes and those that still remained on the walls and shelves. It was through the slight ajar bedroom door that she saw something she could rest her distraught mind on. Her feet were heavy as she trudged forward and pushed her way past the door. The sheets of Nicole’s bed were ruffled and untidy and as Waverly collapsed onto her knees at its side she could smile Nicole’s scent on them. Unable to hold it back anymore, she broke down and sobbed into the sheets that she gathered in her arms. She closed her eyes and wished it all away. Nicole crumpled on the floor as the demons surrounded her in the rain was the only image she could form in her mind. It had been torn from her when Pete had slammed the van door shut and held her back to stop her leaping out as the van drove away. Waverly would have done so, she would have jumped out of that moving van to get back to Nicole. Now all she had was her tears and the memory of how she had left the woman she loved behind.

‘Waverly?’ The human thought she’d dreamt it as she brought her face out from the sheets. Then she heard a crash coming from the room behind her. Astonished, Waverly jumped to her feet and clattered out of the bedroom to see Nicole slumped on the floor having tried to steady herself on one of the chairs only for it to have fallen over.

‘Oh my god…’ She was frozen for a moment hardly able to believe what she was seeing. Then her legs remembered how to work as she rushed across the room. Her elation was palpable as she fell to her knees and pulled Nicole up. Their eyes met before Nicole, who was absolutely shattered, fell into her arms. ‘Is it really you?’ She grabbed at every part of Nicole that she could then finally brought all her attention to Nicole’s cut face. The rain had cleared the blood but the extent of her injuries was clear.

‘It’s me…’ Nicole said weakly.

An overjoyed laugh escaped Waverly’s lips. ‘How did you…?’ Waverly asked using her finger tips to trace every part of Nicole’s face that wasn’t injured. She had to check it was real. She still didn’t believe it was real. She checked herself. ‘It doesn’t matter…’ there were tears in her eyes again. Carefully, she placed their foreheads together. ‘All that matters is that you are alive… and here…’

‘All that mattered to me was that you lived,’ Nicole whispered back.

Waverly began to breathe faster remembering Nicole fighting the demons, ‘You have no idea how scared I was… I thought you were…’

‘Hey… it’s okay…’ Nicole assured her sweetly. ‘I got away… I’m here.’ She brought her own hand to Waverly’s face. The human’s beauty was helping her to forget her exhaustion and pain. After narrowly escaping the demons by defending herself just enough to get away, she had dragged herself through the rain and the streets hoping she would find exactly what she did in her apartment, Waverly waiting for her.

Waverly pulled Nicole in closer as the vampire sat up a little. Nicole felt Waverly grip onto her more tightly than she ever had before their eyes met intensely, ‘I love you,’ Waverly spoke softly. Stunned in delighted silence, Nicole stared at Waverly wondering how something so innocent and perfect could love a demon like her. ‘I would die if anything happened to you.’ At this, Nicole found herself able to smile. Waverly placed a gentle kiss on the vampire’s lips. ‘I love you… so much.’ She ran her hands through Nicole’s wet hair repeatedly revelling the feel of it. ‘I was so scared.’ Nicole knew the only thing that would calm the human was affection and she provided it pressing her lips into Waverly’s lovingly. She could barely speak from the elation of Waverly’s words and the exhaustion of her body. However, she could always find strength to show Waverly how she felt. There were tears running down Waverly’s cheeks when they parted again. ‘I don’t want to leave your side… ever again,’ Waverly whispered before moving to help her so they could get to their feet. ‘Come on… you need to rest.’ Reaching up she helped Nicole get her coat off her shoulders. Then she took Nicole’s hand and led her through to the bedroom. Softly, she pushed Nicole down onto the bed so that the vampire was sitting and Waverly standing over her helping her out of her drenched top. Nicole grimaced through her teeth as she had to raise her arms. With her upper body exposed Waverly could see the extent of the bruises and injuries all over Nicole’s body. Her face creased up in pain at the sight of it.

‘Hey…’ Nicole said softly. ‘I’ll be okay…’

‘I know… I just hate to see you like this…’ Waverly said running her hands down Nicole’s arms and over the vampire’s stomach. She made sure her fingers barely made contact with the skin as she did so, but Nicole still the full impact of their presence near her. Waverly watched her fingers as they made their way back up Nicole’s arm, along the line of Nicole’s neck to the vampire’s face. ‘You’re still so beautiful.’

Her thoughts drifting from her injuries, Nicole wrapped her arms around Waverly’s waist and pulled her in. Waverly understood and brought their lips together. As they kissed, Waverly’s nose pressed into her broken cheek but the feelings stirring inside her was so much stronger than any agony from any wound. It was easy to ignore as her hands wandered underneath Waverly’s top to find skin to warm her hands. Pulling away, Waverly kept eye contact as she pulled her top over her head and threw it aside. As she did so, her wet hair fell around her face and shoulders once again over the newly exposed bear skin. Stepping back into Nicole, Waverly returned her lips to Nicole’s and her fingers found the buckle of Nicole’s belt. Excitedly, though slightly trembling, undid it and pulled it apart so it came undone.

Nicole knew what Waverly instigating and held her hands to pause her actions, ‘you sure?’

She was nervous, Nicole could tell, but Waverly still nodded, ‘I love you,’ she said again.

For Nicole, it was just as meaningful as the first time. As if she no longer had any injuries, she stood up and took Waverly into her arms, ‘I love you.’

Waverly once again noted Nicole’s injuries, ‘you going to be okay?’

‘If anything can distract me… it’s you,’ Nicole assured her.

Her heart pounding Waverly paused for a moment not quite sure what to do. Nerves had taken over and she was suddenly a little panicked. Nicole sensed this and knew she would have to take control. Supporting Waverly with her hands on the human’s back she gently turned Waverly round and sat her on the edge of the bed. Waverly’s eyes never left Nicole’s, she found so much comfort in them. She knew she was safe.

Nicole looked down at Waverly as she eased her back on the bed. She adored the way Waverly’s wet hair fell around her face and down onto her chest. She ran her fingers down through it so that when her fingers were free of it they grazed the edge of laced material. Slowly, Nicole bent down and placed soft kisses across Waverly’s chest, moving the material down to gain a little more access. Waverly’s eyes followed every movement and she found herself holding her breath. To calm her, as she sensed this, Nicole brought their lips together, soft and sweet to let them savour the moment. As their lips parted and came together again Nicole moved her body onto the bed so that she was hovering over Waverly. Waverly wanted more, she needed more. Placing her hands on Nicole’s hips she pulled the vampire in. As their hips pressed together intensely, both gasped at the feelings rising between them. Waverly was ready to give herself completely to Nicole.

 

The covers draped over their naked bodies, their limbs entangled and moved together. Her injuries forgotten, Nicole relished the feeling of Waverly’s body on top of her. It’s slender shape and beauty was overwhelming. She knew she had to show Waverly how much she treasured her. Using her arms as support, she delicately rolled Waverly onto her back and leant into her. Waverly had no idea what was coming, all so new, she was discovering something with every touch and caress. Nicole’s kisses explored her lips, cheek and neck as the vampire’s hand moved down. It hesitated as Nicole asked once more with her eyes for permission. With a sharp intake of breath, Waverly gave it in a subtle nod. Keeping her face close to Waverly’s, Nicole watched every change of Waverly’s expression and soon she saw what she wanted to see. With a gasp, Waverly’s eyes closed and her head tipped back as pleasure rushed through her.

 

Her hand trembled as Waverly tried to organise her thoughts. Everything was coming so naturally, but what overwhelmed her was the emotion of it all. The sounds leaving Nicole’s mouth as Waverly copied what the vampire had done to her, was something Waverly never wanted to stop. To every touch, Nicole no longer felt cold, but warmed by the heat between them. Waverly however, had barely noticed as she buried her head in Nicole’s neck listening to how she could give Nicole more. Nicole couldn’t help claw at the human’s back. At the slight inhale at the vampire’s nails, Nicole softened her grip and moved one hand to the bed sheets. She had to hold onto something tightly. It was as if time stopped for a moment as Nicole felt the true meaning of making love. It wasn’t just the pleasure; it was everything that she felt passionately along with it. As her body released, her arms encased Waverly as the human caught her breath. Nicole could feel the delectable pounding of Waverly’s quickened heartbeat against her chest. She smiled and pulled Waverly in as close as she could. Nothing as intense as that had ever happened with her sire. As she kissed Waverly’s head and felt the human hold onto her, she found herself feeling bliss for the first time in over one hundred years.

 

The searing agony caused Doyle to fall out of his chair. Holding his hand to his head his head twitched manically as the pictures flashed through his head. He closed his eyes to ignore the throbbing and see what it was he was being shown. When it stopped, he sat back so horrified he misjudged the distance to the chair and fell back on the floor. So completely mortified and unable to move, Doyle stared up at the ceiling as he processed the images and information that he had been sent. It was the same as before, Nicole and the people but this time there were more. So many more. ‘Oh Jesus…’ he said fearfully into the dark. ‘… why the hell didn’t you leave?’

 

As the clang of lightning pierced through the air, Nicole sat bolt upright in bed with a breathless gasp. Her hands immediately went to her chest as it burned like fire. Grimacing, she glanced to the side of her where Waverly slept soundly. Fear and panic gripped the entirety of the vampire. She got up immediately as the pain worsened. Stumbling out of the room, she managed to grab some jeans and a top. Pulling them on, she staggered out of apartment door and down the hall. The overwhelming pain caused her to stop and lean against the wall as her teeth gritted together.

‘Oh god…’ she wheezed. ‘Oh no…’ Looking up she saw the lightning continue to light up the sky as the storm raged above her. Using all the strength she had, she used the rail to pull herself up the steps and out into the street. Pain’s clutches gripping her again, her legs buckled as she fell to the floor. Her hands pressed into the ground covered in water she stared at the black ground as agony froze her completely. ‘Waverly…’ Like she had been stabbed, it hit again and Nicole’s arms gave in. Her face narrowly missed colliding with the concrete. ‘No… please no…’ The face of her beautiful girl sleeping in her bed flashed into her mind. ‘Waverly…’

From across the street, a woman, who had left a bar in the hope of quietly enjoying cigarette, spotted Nicole’s struggle in the middle of the road. Frowning, she tossed her cigarette aside, pulled her coat’s hood up over her head and began to make her way over. Nicole was now curled up, the agony overpowering. Her rain soaked clothes clung to her shaking, pale frame.

‘Hey…’ she continued to walk forward. ‘Are you okay?’ Nicole did not answer; she remained still and appearing lifeless on the floor. She had stopped calling out for Waverly and apart from the lightning and the rain, there was no sound. ‘Excuse me…’ she bent over slightly seeing if she could peer over Nicole’s body to see if she was okay. ‘… are you…?’

She couldn’t finish. Without warning, Nicole leapt to her feet and spun round. Her face morphed, her teeth bared she grabbed the woman and held her forcefully. The woman could barely cry out before Nicole’s fangs had sunk into her neck and the vampire had begun to drink. Whimpering, the woman could hear the sound of her own blood being gulped down by the creature that held her. Soon, life faded and as Nicole let her go she dropped to the floor with a heavy thud.

Savouring each drop and licking the blood from one of her fingers, a nasty snarl appeared on Nicole’s face, ‘I’m just fine…’ she smirked. ‘Thank you for asking.’ Without a second thought to the person she had just killed, Nicole stepped over the body and walked away into the night.


	17. Becoming Part 2

The sound of the rain lashing against the ground above caused Waverly to stir. Without opening her eyes, she stretched out her arm expecting it to hit the vampire that should have been sleeping next to her. Instead, there was just an empty space. Confused, Waverly opened her eyes to see that the covers had been thrown back and Nicole was no longer in the bed beside her.

‘Nicole?’ she called out into the dark room. With no answer, Waverly gathered the sheets around her and slowly lowered her feet to the floor. It was cold, but this was not what bothered the young woman. Clutching the material to her chest she dragged it behind her as she left the bedroom and walked out in the main living space which she discovered was also empty. She called out again, but just as before there was no reply. She was alone. Bewildered, she stood in silence with only the sound of the rain for company.

 

At the sound of someone approaching, Bobo looked to the entrance to see bare feet descending the steps into his domain. Gradually, black jeans then a blue tank top came into sight, worn by a drenched Nicole who drew her fingers along the walls of the cave as she went. Wary, Bobo adjusted his seated position in his chair and nodded to the vampire standing on the other side of the cave to be ready.

‘Why… Nicole… to what do I owe the pleasure?’ he was friendly but clearly guarded.

Curling one side of her mouth upwards, Nicole held the ends of her fingers together as she approached, ‘Oh Bobo, the pleasure is all mine.’

Instantly, Bobo could tell something was different, ‘and what pleasure would that be?’ he asked.

‘To be free Bobo… to be free.’

Bobo studied her, looking down at her bare feet, up her slight figure to the cold emotionless expression that stared at him. Seeing that her eyes were no longer filled with the aching remorse that had been so apparent for so many years, Bobo pressed his hands against the arms of his chair to push himself up to standing. ‘Your soul,’ he gasped. His eyes began to widen with twisted delight. ‘You no longer have it.’

‘That is correct,’ Nicole snarled.

Stunned, Bobo said no more. Instead, he whirled round and rushed out of the cave. A few minutes later, he reappeared supporting a weak Willa in his arms. She could barely walk, but with Bobo’s arms around her she was managing to put one fragile step in front of another. ‘See my love…’ Bobo told her gesturing to Nicole.

Unconvinced, Willa’s eyes fixed upon Nicole who remained standing in the middle of the cave just watching them, ‘has our daughter come home?’

‘It appears she has my sweet,’ Bobo beamed.

He led Willa up to Nicole so that Willa could stare her right in the eyes. Suddenly she let out a childish laugh of excitement. ‘The faces… they’ve left you,’ she giggled. ‘In their place, the screams are like music…’

‘And it’s beautiful,’ Nicole agreed.

Biting her finger, Willa turned to Bobo grabbing hold of the collar of his fur coat, ‘our family is complete again!’

‘Almost… ‘ Bobo reminded her. ‘We are without one.’

‘Yeah, that was rather unfortunate,’ Nicole agreed. She walked over to Bobo’s chair and sat down in it. The vampire on the other side of the cave looking at Bobo concerned but he wasn’t in the least bit bothered. Nicole looked at both of them seriously as she continued, ‘but I can assure you both, that I am going to do everything in my power to punish the slayer and her pesky little friends for everything they have done to you.’ Effortlessly, she transformed into her vampire form which looked more menacing than ever. ‘Especially that human girl; because of her I killed Shae and for that… she cannot live.’

‘And you feel nothing for her?’ Bobo asked amused.

Nicole closed her eyes sickened, ‘it disgusts me to even think about what I might have felt.’

Now it was Bobo’s turn to laugh out loud elatedly still holding onto Willa who looked just as delighted. ‘This going to be so much fun.’

‘And I can’t wait to get started,’ Nicole sneered.

 

Just as it had for Waverly, the rain crashing heavily against everything it hit caused Wynonna to wake. It took a few seconds, but soon the hangover from the night before hit her like a train. Creasing up her face, she brought her hands to her face and silently reacted to the pain. Once she had fully acknowledged its existence, she took a moment to take in her surroundings. It was a bedroom she did not recognise or remember. It was only when her eyes came to rest on the man sleeping beside her that it all came flooding back. Doc continued to sleep soundly as Wynonna stared at him remembering what they had done just a few hours before. With her head throbbing, she could not resolve how she felt about it. Instead, she decided that she could no longer stay where she was. Seizing a blanket from the chair next to the bed, she covered herself and made her way silently out of the room.

Once downstairs, the slayer located her clothes and began to pull them on. It was an unpleasant experience as they were still damp from the rain that had been soaked into them. As she did so, flashes of the fight against The Order came back into her mind. They hit her just as hard as the headache throbbing within her skull. She grimaced as she pulled on her jacket as the sleeve brushed over the deep cut on her arm. She held it and leaned against the table trying to process all the memories and emotions flowing through her. There was one thought she could settled on, now that it was the early hours of the morning, she was relieved it was no longer her birthday.

 

Walking up to the car, Wynonna was sure that someone was sitting inside it. When she reached Waverly’s jeep she was right. Inside, Waverly still sat behind the wheel staring ahead blankly. She jumped when the passenger side door was pulled open and Wynonna hopped inside closing it again behind her.

‘Hey,’ Wynonna said plainly.

‘Hey,’ the reply was vacant and weak.

‘Okay, I’m hungover and beaten up… what’s your excuse?’

Waverly looked away back to the spot where she had been staring. Ahead of them the school doors loomed and it was the last place either of them wanted to be. ‘Nicole was gone…’

‘Gone?’

‘When I woke up this morning…’ Waverly explained. She paused, the pit of her stomach churned. ‘Last night… we…’ she stopped, the emotion stole her words. Her eyes fell to staring at her lap.

‘After you… what do you mean? After you…’ she stopped as her brain caught up. ‘Oh…’ her eyes widened briefly before her expression softened. ‘You and Nicole…’ She let that settled for a moment. ‘What do you mean she was gone?’

‘I woke up and she wasn’t there… not in the bed or even in the apartment,’ Waverly replied.

‘Why would she just leave?’

‘I don’t know,’ Waverly began to look a little frantic. ‘I don’t know what to think. The only one that makes any sense to me is that she went to fight The Order by herself.’

The thought horrified Wynonna as much as it did Waverly, ‘she wouldn’t…’

‘Wynonna… it’s exactly the kind of thing she would do,’ Waverly stated firmly. ‘She loves me and she cares for you and if we’re in danger…’

‘She would do something about it,’ Wynonna finished in agreement. She looked out of the car at the sky. It had stopped raining and despite the fact there was no blue sky the clouds were brightening. ‘She can’t do anything about it now, it’s daylight and there’s enough sun that she would need to be indoors somewhere.’

‘So she might be back at the apartment?’ Waverly said hopefully.

‘Probably,’ Wynonna nodded.

‘I need to go back and check,’ Waverly decided turning the keys and starting her car. She stopped and looked back at Wynonna fully noting the slayer’s injuries and fatigued expression. ‘Are you okay?’

Her night with Doc instantly came into her mind, but Wynonna buried it. She was still slightly ashamed. ‘My head hates me… and unfortunately it’s not just due to that wonderful birthday present Willa sent.’

‘I can’t believe she’s alive… well… not technically but… I can’t believe she survived the barn,’ Waverly said.

‘I know…’ Wynonna stared ahead at the school watching the other pupils filing in through the doors as their day was beginning; a day so normal, not filled with the worries that she and Waverly had to deal with. Together, the slayer and the human envied them. ‘I’m going to find Nedley, we have to find a way to defeat The Order.’

Waverly looked a little guilty, ‘I know I should help but…’

‘You need to find your girl,’ Wynonna smiled looking back at her. ‘It’s okay, I get it.’ She reached for the door and opened it. When her feet touched the concrete she turned back, ‘it won’t be anything to do with you,’ she told Waverly. She could see the vulnerability written all over her friend’s face. ‘She loves you.’ Their eyes met in appreciation of their friendship, for Waverly truly appreciated Wynonna’s words, as Wynonna closed the door firmly. She waited for Waverly to drive off out of the school parking lot before she turned to walk into the school.

 

‘They’re magnificent,’ Nicole said as she walked along the line of demons standing to attention in front of her. She was now dressed in knee high black leather boots, black leather trousers, a low cut black top and her long black leather coat. ‘And they certainly were when I was fighting them last night.’

Behind her, Bobo and Willa sat in their chairs watching Nicole and The Order, ‘that’s why we raised them… I’m sure now without you in the way they can do what we wanted last night… and kill the slayer.’

‘Oh I won’t be in the way,’ Nicole agreed. She brought a hand up one of the demon’s weapons and traced her finger down its sharp edge without touching it. ‘I’ll be watching, savouring every drop of blood that is spilt.’

‘Will you describe it to me?’ Willa asked eagerly.

Smirking, Nicole turned to her, ‘with every minute detail.’

Once again, Willa laughed like an overjoyed child, ‘oh Bobo… she’s back and even more wicked than before.’

Holding Willa’s hand, Bobo’s eyes examined Nicole prudently, ‘yes my love, I do believe she is. Spending so much time brooding and having some mere girl make you feel as close to being human as she did, would awaken such wickedness.’

Nicole’s face fell showing her disdain, ‘it won’t be a quick death that I give her…’ She moved away from the demons striding around the cave sorting her thoughts. ‘She doesn’t deserve that. No… first, I’ll take everything that matters to her… then I’ll take her sanity… then…’ she grinned at Bobo and Willa. ‘I’ll take her.’

‘Will you sire her?’ Willa asked.

‘Absolutely not,’ Nicole snapped disgusted.

Willa looked a little puzzled, ‘why not?’

‘She doesn’t want the memory of what the girl made her feel,’ Bobo answered. ‘Human.’

‘I have felt enough to last a lifetime…’ Nicole growled. ‘I have a hundred years of killing to catch up on… this town is going to see blood like it’s never done before. And it’s going to begin with the slayer. Then I’ll kill everyone single person that she cares about.’

As Bobo, Willa and Nicole revelled in their newly laid plans, from the secluded safety of one of the tunnels leading into the cave Rosita listened. Hidden away, she had heard the entire conversation and realised that if Nicole was going to kill everyone involved with the slayer, this was going to include Doc. Even though she had no soul and she cared about nothing, something inside her did not want this to happen. Incomprehensibly, she felt the pull to leave the cave and find her way to the slayer and her friends to warn them.

 

As she sat on the table, Nedley examined Wynonna’s healing wounds, including the one on her arm which he bandaged properly to ensure it would heal correctly. Looking just as downhearted and exhausted, Pete and Jeremy sat in chairs beside her.

‘So Nicole survived?’ Pete asked trying to fill the uncomfortable silence of the group.

‘Seems so… Waverly said that she found Nicole in her apartment,’ she refrained from saying anymore as she knew what Waverly had revealed to her was private and not their business. ‘That’s one good thing to come out of the disaster that was my birthday.’ Sealing the bandage, Nedley indicated that he was finished by putting away his first aid kit. Uncomfortably, Wynonna put her leather jacket back on. ‘We need to find a way to defeat The Order,’ she stated.

‘I couldn’t agree more,’ Nedley said as he headed to his office to put away the kit. ‘And you know what that means,’ he added when he reappeared.

‘Say no more,’ Jeremy sighed reaching into his bag and pulling out his laptop. He looked at Pete. ‘This is when we spend hours looking for information on the world’s nasties.’

‘This being one of the worst I’ve ever faced,’ Wynonna said getting down off the table and slumping into a chair. ‘Nothing killed them… not even Nicole driving a sword straight through the middle of one. I watched it, nothing should have survived that.’

‘You can’t kill them… because they’re dead.’

The new voice in the library caused all of them to jump up and whirl round. To see Rosita walking towards them caused them all to freeze in shock. She had come from the back of the library, up through the sewers and stuck to the shadows as she descended the steps to join them. Wynonna only recognised her from the photo Doc had shown her, which he kept in his jacket pocket. Tearing across the library, Wynonna ran into the weapons cage, grabbed a stake and rushed over to Rosita holding it to her chest.

‘I mean no harm…’ Rosita said calmly holding her nerve. Every instinct inside her was telling her to kill Wynonna, but she fought it.

‘I know who you are…’ Wynonna said through her teeth. ‘More to the point, I know what you are.’

‘Er…’ Jeremy cut in raising his hand as if in class. ‘Who is this?’

Wynonna didn’t take her eyes off the vampire in her clutches, ‘this is Rosita.’

‘Rosita?’ Nedley frowned recognising the name. ‘Doc’s Rosita?’

‘The very one.’

‘The one that’s a…’ Nedley went on.

‘Vampire… yes,’ the slayer’s eyes burned into the vampire’s as the point of the stake pressed hard into Rosita’s chest. Still, Rosita didn’t flinch despite knowing what the stake would do to her. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I’m here to help,’ Rosita told them.

‘Help?’ Wynonna asked seeing it only as a joke.

‘Bobo and Willa are planning to hit you hard with The Order tonight… I came to warn you,’ Rosita told them.

‘What?’ Wynonna laughed. ‘So you can send us away and into a trap? Come on.’

‘There’s no trap. After they kill you, they’re planning to go after everyone… everyone you care about…’

Wynonna studied her a little surprised, ‘which includes Doc.’

‘Yes.’

The stake in Rosita’s chest was relaxed a little, ‘how can you care about him? You have no soul.’

‘Trust me, it’s as confusing for me as it is for you… but still, I do not want anything to happen to him.’

Wynonna stepped back and lowered her stake, ‘so you’re here to help huh?’

‘In any way I can,’ Rosita nodded.

‘Right now, I have a headache that must have been cooked up by the devil, so I don’t believe you… but maybe when this damn thing dies down and I’ve taken an aspirin, I might.’ She grabbed hold of Rosita and began dragging her across the library. ‘So until then, I think it would be safest if you stayed in here.’ She pushed Rosita into the cage and locked it behind her. ‘If you still want to help after being locked in here, then maybe I’ll believe you.’ She glared at Rosita who stared back before she turned back to the rest of the group. ‘We have work to do.’

From the cage, Rosita watched trying to stay the anger and repulsion she was feeling. She cared nothing for the people in front of her. Every part of her vampire desposition was flaring up and she wanted to kill every single one of them. However, until she could assure Doc’s safety she would have to play their game. She had chosen not to reveal Nicole’s turning. It did not aid her plan to save Doc and she wanted to be there and see their faces when they did find out, because that she would enjoy.

 

Reaching Nicole’s front door, Waverly turned it carefully wondering if it would be open. It was. Gently, Waverly pushed it open and stepped inside. As she looked around, there was no sight of Nicole and her heart fell. Walking over to the boxes still on the table, she began to pick up things and look at them. She had no idea why, maybe there would be a clue to Nicole’s disappearance. She was so focused on this that she did not hear or see Nicole slip silently out of the bathroom and move across the room to where a new top lay draped over the chair. It was only when she picked it up and pulled it over her head that Waverly heard her.

Spinning round, Waverly’s eyes brightened instantly at the sight of the vampire, ‘Nicole!’ she breathed out closing the gap between them. She stretched up and wrapped her arms around Nicole’s neck. ‘You’re okay.’ Nicole’s face did not soften or show any love behind Waverly’s back. Waverly noticed that Nicole did not embrace her. Confused she pulled away to look at her face. ‘Are you okay?’

‘I’m fine,’ Nicole lied pulling away. She moved over to where her leather jacket was hanging.

Waverly watched her puzzled, ‘where were you this morning?’ She took a few steps towards Nicole as the vampire pulled on her jacket. ‘I woke up and you weren’t there.’

‘I went out,’ Nicole replied coldly. ‘You didn’t expect me to hang around after that did you?’

Horrified, Waverly froze on the spot. The pit of her stomach began to churn again, ‘What do you mean? …was I…? Was I not… good?’

‘Oh I couldn’t fault your effort,’ Nicole chuckled nastily. She was enjoying every moment of this. ‘But… the lack of experience showed.’

Tears built up in the young vulnerable girl’s eyes, ‘how can you say these things to me?’ she looked up at Nicole trying to find some kindness in her girlfriend’s eyes. ‘What’s wrong with you?’

‘There’s nothing wrong with me,’ Nicole said plainly. ‘Finally… there’s nothing wrong with me.’

‘This… this isn’t you,’ Waverly wept. She took the last steps to close the gap between them. She placed her hands on Nicole’s shoulders but Nicole kept hers by her side. ‘I love you…’

‘Yay,’ Nicole mocked. She stepped away again moving towards the door. ‘Now I have things to do…’ Standing within its frame she looked back savouring the heartbroken expression on Waverly’s face. ‘Don’t come looking for me tonight, I won’t be here and I don’t really want you to find me.’ She curled her mouth up cruelly before walking away down the corridor and out of sight. Unable to move, unable to think or even comprehend what had just happened Waverly stared at the spot where Nicole had just stood as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

 

Hush had fallen over the library except in one corner. Sitting in front of the cage, Wynonna made sure the stake in her hand was visible and imposing. Behind her, Pete, Jeremy and Nedley continued their way on The Order to find a way to kill them. In the cage, Rosita stared back unmoved but unthreatening.

‘What happened?’ Wynonna asked.

‘What do you mean?’

‘After the spell to free both you and Doc,’ Wynonna went on. ‘How did you end up as a vampire?’

Rosita thought back. It shouldn’t have been, but it felt painful to remember. ‘It turned out I was being stalked by Willa.’ Rosita explained. Wynonna felt relieved that it had not been Nicole as she had first thought. ‘She knew what we were doing and waited for Doc to commit himself before she then attacked and turned me.’

‘Vampires…’ Wynonna spat. ‘Always doing the cruellest thing they can.’

‘She turned me and when I rose, she told me that Doc had died in the spell…’ she looked down almost disgusted that she had believed her sire. ‘So over time I forgot him. I was just as shocked to see him in the cemetery that night as he was to see me.’

‘Do you love him?’

‘I shouldn’t,’ Rosita replied. ‘I mean I can’t…’ She put her hand to her chest. ‘But something inside me longs for him…’ Her eyes cut seriously into Wynonna. ‘I will not let Bobo and Willa have him killed.’

‘On that… we both agree,’ Wynonna said her eyes not shifting at all from the vampire.

Rosita suddenly looked intrigued, ‘you care for him…’ she realised.

Now Wynonna looked away, ‘of course I do… he’s… my friend…’

Rosita walked forward so that she was right up against the door of the weapons cage, ‘… no he’s more than that to you… I can smell it.’ Her face turned from curiosity to possessiveness. ‘I can smell him all over you.’

Angry, Wynonna flew out of the chair and stood on the other side of the door to Rosita, their faces only inches apart, ‘you better stop talking and you better stop talking right now. You smell nothing. You better watch what you’re saying because you are in my cage, in my library, under my control.’ She held the stake up. ‘You would be dust in seconds.’

Their eyes burned into each other. Rosita knew she was right. However, instead of incensing the slayer anymore she curled her mouth into a satisfied snarl and slowly backed away from the cage door. Once Doc was safe and The Order had been stopped, she promised herself she would kill the slayer, kill her for ever daring to lay a finger on the man she had once loved and still saw as her own.

 

Upon hearing the front door open and close, Gus rose from her chair in the kitchen and moved into the hallway. There her eyes fell upon a devastated looking Waverly who was standing in the hallway not knowing whether to keep walking or fall to the floor.

‘Waverly?’ Gus asked. ‘Shouldn’t you be at school?’

Waverly avoided her eyes, ‘I… I don’t feel well,’ she said quietly.

‘Oh honey,’ Gus walked forward and placed a hand on Waverly’s forehead. ‘You don’t feel too warm. What’s wrong?’

‘I feel sick,’ the words barely left her mouth and it was the truth. The words that had dripped from Nicole’s mouth were stirring in her mind, every one of them making her feel sick.

‘You better go and lie down,’ she stroked Waverly’s forehead then face lovingly concerned about Waverly’s troubled expression. With no words, Waverly fell into Gus, leaning her head against her guardian’s shoulder. Gus replied how Waverly needed her to, wrapping her arms tightly around the young girl. ‘It’ll be okay… it’ll pass.’

Not knowing what was wrong with Nicole, Waverly wasn’t sure if she could believe Gus’ words, but decided that she would acknowledge them with a feeble smile. ‘I’m going to go up.’ She broke out of Gus’ arms and trudged her way upstairs.

Once inside her room, she closed the door and her face crumpled up in pain. Bringing her hands to her face she began to sob into them wondering how Nicole could have ever said those punishing things to her. Had it really been that bad? She thought over what had happened again and again and only remembered Nicole enjoying what she had been doing. Everything about their night had been loving and sweet and Waverly had taken Nicole to same heights that Nicole had taken her.

Moving away from her door, Waverly walked over to her side table. She opened the top draw and fished out a small piece of paper. As Waverly unfolded it the words came into view. ‘You are so beautiful when you sleep. I will see you tonight.’ The words cut into Waverly as it was words like these that she had expected to receive from Nicole. Her voice had been so cruel, so cold and so empty. Putting her hand to her mouth overcome with emotion Waverly sat back on her bed and then moved so that she was lying down on it. She held the note out in front of her and curled up. She’d given Nicole one of the most precious things that any person could give another. It had been the happiest night of her life but now it had turned into a nightmare. Slowly, she closed her eyes and wished it would all go away.

 

Removing his hat, Doc’s eyes were only on Wynonna as he entered the library. The slayer was now sitting with Nedley as they continued to research The Order. It was only when he took a few more steps that his eyes were drawn to the vampire standing in the cage. Wynonna sensed his arrival and spun round to see him staring perplexed at Rosita.

‘What is she doing here?’ Doc asked without taking his eyes off the vampire.

Wynonna got up and approached him, ‘she claims she’s here to help.’

‘To help?’ Doc scoffed. ‘She’s a soulless demon.’

It was clear the words were painful for him to say, ‘I am aware Doc… that’s why she’s in the cage.’

Upon seeing him, Rosita was feeling the bewildering feeling that made no sense with her lack of soul. Inside, she felt warm as she gazed at him taking in how, although his appearance had changed a little, he was still the man she had been so in love with when she was human.

‘I should kill her…’ Doc breathed.

‘As should I…’ Wynonna added. ‘But if she can give us anything that will help defeat The Order then she stays in that cage.’

Doc gritted his teeth. It was agony to look at her. He allowed other thoughts to distract his mind. He turned away from Rosita to give Wynonna his full attention. ‘You left…’

‘I couldn’t stay,’ Wynonna said awkwardly avoiding his eye contact. ‘I’m sorry…’

‘My concern is only for you,’ Doc assured her. ‘About what we shared…’

‘I don’t regret it Doc,’ Wynonna said. ‘If that’s what you’re worried about…’ As his face relaxed, it was clear that it had been exactly what he was concerned about. ‘It happened, it was good, a nice end to the worst birthday… but I have no expectations.’ She looked over at Rosita. ‘She still cares for you.’

Doc found he couldn’t look at Rosita, ‘she has no soul… it’s false. I’ve seen the way that Nicole looks at Waverly, I’ve seen the emotion in her eyes… there is nothing in hers.’ He placed his hat back on his head showing that he intended to leave. ‘Do not trust her… and if you need to, you can kill her.’ He ensured that his hat was secure on his head and walked a few paces before stopping and looked at Rosita. From the cage, Rosita stared back. Doc looked and looked hard, desperate to see the emotion and softness that he saw in Nicole’s eyes because of her soul. But in Rosita’s, there was nothing. Her eyes were stern and cold. There was no emotion. It cut into him dreadfully.

‘You not staying to help?’ Wynonna called after him.

‘If you need me to fight… come and get me…’ Doc replied without turning or taking his eyes off of Rosita. ‘Until then, my friend is a bottle of whiskey.’ Wynonna watched sadly as he strode out of the library. She felt for him. She found that despite what she had told him, she was feeling a lot more for him than she expected to.

 

Waverly woke to find that night had descended. In the dark, she slowly brought herself up to sitting. Her hand felt cramped. She looked down to see that it was still clutching the piece of paper. Just for a second, she had forgotten but the piece of paper brought it all back. Although a huge part of her wanted to stay hidden away asleep on that bed, she couldn’t deny the overwhelming need to find Nicole again to see if anything had changed back to the way she so desperately wanted it to be.

Cautiously, Waverly slipped out of her bedroom window onto the roof. Sliding down she stopped herself on the edge and looked down at the floor below. So many times she had seen Nicole make the easy drop to the floor, but she did not have the advantage of Nicole’s powers. Instead, she moved along until she could use one of the corners to help her ease herself down until her feet hit the grass. As soon as she landed, she realised that her every move was being watched as her eyes noticed the dark shape watching her.

‘She’s changed hasn’t she?’ Doyle asked as he stepped into the light from the house.

Startled, Waverly back away, ‘who are you?’

‘I’m Doyle,’ he replied.

‘Nicole’s Doyle?’

‘The very one…’ urgent he pressed on. ‘Tell me, she’s changed hasn’t she?’

Waverly studied him confused, ‘yes… how do you…?’

‘I get visions… I saw it,’ he told her.

Waverly remembered Nicole mentioning Doyle having visions. She needed answers and it was clear that Doyle might be the one to provide them. ‘She’s changed. She’s cold and unfeeling… she said some horrible things,’ her voice trembled as she spoke.

‘Her eyes… did they look more empty? Less remorseful?’

Waverly remembered how they looked at her. ‘They were harsh… I’ve never seen them like that.’

Doyle closed his eyes, exactly what he feared, ‘it’s happened.’

‘What’s happened?’

It felt anger towards Waverly, but he buried it as he knew that it was not her fault. She had no idea. ‘You did this,’ he said softly.

‘I did this?’

‘A true moment of happiness… it’s the only way.’

‘The only way what?’ her frustration and desperation was beginning to show. ‘Doyle, what has happened?’

Doyle sighed, ‘a true moment of happiness, where she forgets the pain that is supposed to be feeling, the pain that the Romanians intended for her to feel for all eternity, will cause her to lose her soul.’

It hit her like a punch in the stomach, ‘lose her soul?’

‘Her love for you caused her to feel that moment,’ Doyle went on as tears began to build in Waverly’s eyes. In a strange way, Waverly felt some relief. She had done nothing wrong; in fact it had been perfect. However, the unfortunate truth was, it had been too perfect. She looked away from Doyle and stared at the floor. ‘Now she is like any other vampire, soulless, cruel and driven by the need to kill and drink blood.’ Every word stung. The woman she had loved was gone. ‘And as we know from history…’

‘Nicole was one of the worst,’ Waverly finished. She fell to her knees on the floor covering her face with her hands. ‘What have I done?’

Doyle stood over her, sympathetic. Slowly, he bent his knees so that he could crouch by her side. He placed a soft had on her shoulder as the young girl wept, ‘you weren’t to know, how could you?’

Slowly, Waverly removed her hands from her face to show her cheeks soaked from her tears, ‘will she come for me?’

Doyle hung his head despondently, ‘the mind of that vampire without a soul is one of the most twisted ever seen. She won’t only kill you Waverly, she will do it cruellest way she can. She will probably come for your friends and family first and their deaths won’t be quick.’

Waverly looked back at the house remembering Gus inside. She had already gone through it once with Willa, she was not going to through it again. She began to breathe deeply, almost panicked, as the hideous truth of what had to be done came to light. ‘We have to kill her…’

‘Do you think you can?’ Doyle asked.

Once again, Waverly’s face showed the pain she was feeling inside. The very thought of Nicole being killed made her feel sick, ‘I don’t know,’ she admitted. ‘Doyle, I love her so much.’

‘She’s not the woman you loved,’ Doyle reminded her. ‘She’ll have Nicole’s face, body, mannerisms, memories and voice… but the soul, the soul that meant she could love you is gone. She will use your feelings against you because she has none.’ He looked just as devastated as she did. ‘You cannot think of her as the one you love anymore… she’s another demon that must be killed so she doesn’t hurt anyone else.’

‘I need to tell Wynonna,’ Waverly said her voice and face suddenly cold and vacant like her emotions had shut down due to shock.

Doyle could see that Waverly was in no state to be on her own, ‘I’ll come with you.’

 

‘Oh… oh… oh!’ The shout from Pete caused even Rosita to take notice. Jeremy whirled round from his laptop and Nedley came out of his office as Pete stood up clutching the book he was reading. ‘Poison… poison will kill them…’

Pete handed the book to Nedley, who laid it down on the table and began reading, ‘yes, course.’ The others looked at him waiting for him to clue them in. ‘Sunlight’s Reed would have been used to rise them so Shadow’s Stem will kill them…’ he closed his eyes and leaned forward.

‘What’s wrong?’ Wynonna asked.

Nedley sighed as he looked at her, ‘it’s one of the rarest plants in the world because it is so deadly.’

‘And there’s no chance that Jeremy can recreate it?’ Wynonna pressed.

‘No, this poison will require the plant itself, otherwise it won’t be strong enough,’ he turned his attention to Jeremy and Pete. ‘I will give a list of all the magic shops in Purgatory…’

‘There’s more than one?’ Wynonna quipped. ‘This town doesn’t even have a charity shop but it has more than one magic shop? Wow, priorities people.’

Nedley was unamused by Wynonna’s retort and began writing down the addresses. He paused before he handed the list over to Jeremy, ‘the bottom one isn’t a shop… it’s a home address, you only go there as a last resort… do you understand?’ Jeremy took the list looking concerned. ‘The man that lives there is not one to visit unless absolutely necessary, but he may have what we need if the shops don’t.’

‘Is he dangerous?’ Pete asked.

‘He can be…’

Jeremy and Pete shared glances before gathering their things and taking off out of the library to carry out their task with the hope of being successful.

‘If they don’t come back with what we need…’ Nedley went on watching them leave. ‘Then I have no idea how we are going to defeat The Order.’

‘You know this thing called a pep talk?’ Wynonna sighed staring at him. ‘Look it up, practise and then come back to me.’ Shaking her head, she returned to the books. If Jeremy and Pete could not find Shadow’s Stem, she would have to see if there was any other way to defeat The Order.  If they had been risen by a spell, surely there was a spell that could send them back into ground where they belonged.

 

With a satisfied smirk written all over her face, Nicole re-entered the cave. Willa was back in bed and resting with Bobo sitting by her side.

‘So…’ Bobo asked.

‘As predicted, they are pathetically researching how to defeat The Order,’ Nicole laughed nastily.

‘There is a way…’ Willa reminded them. ‘If they find it…’

‘Well my love,’ Bobo snarled kissing her hand. ‘We’re not going to give them time.’ He stood up adjusting his coat as he faced Nicole. ‘Nicole is going to lead The Order to the library where they will kill anything insight.’

‘Except Waverly… they must leave Waverly to me,’ Nicole reminded them sternly.

‘They will not touch the young witch… otherwise I fear we will never hear the end of it,’ Bobo said almost rolling his eyes.

‘But if they kill the slayer,’ Willa went on. ‘I want every tiny detail.’

Bobo sat down on the bed once again, ‘and then my love, when I am freed and your strength has returned I will find a way to rise out of this damn cave and we will have the run of the town.’

They sniggered as their heads met, then Willa looked at Nicole, ‘will you stay with us?’

‘In this sad heap of a town?’ Nicole snickered. ‘Absolutely not. When Wynonna is dead, another slayer will rise and I think she’ll need to be challenged… and ultimately killed.’

‘Slayers will be your new obsession it seems…’ Bobo said. ‘Not a bad one to have.’

‘It’s time,’ Willa giggled idiotically. She squirmed a little where she lay. ‘I can feel it.’

‘You ready to lead the boys to victory?’ Bobo asked Nicole.

With the sound of cracking bones and stretching skin, Nicole’s face became the vampire within, ‘I am so ready to party,’ she growled.

 

His hand trembling slightly, Jeremy gripped the piece of paper in his hand as he and Pete stared at the door in front of them. The shops had given them nothing, so they had had no choice but to visit the address at the bottom of the list.

‘What do you think Nedley meant by, he can be dangerous?’ Jeremy asked leaning into Pete.

‘I have no idea… but my wolf senses are tingling,’ Pete said back.

‘Is that what that is?’ Jeremy realised. It was like his body was humming; telling him that there was indeed danger in the house in front of them. It was stronger than anything a human would feel.

Tugging at Jeremy’s arm, Pete began to walk forward, ‘come on… we better try this.’

Together they approached the door and looked at each other as they both gulped nervously. It was Pete who built up the courage to press the doorbell and hear it ring out within the house. It was a few moments before they saw a shadow on the other side and the door being wrenched open in annoyance.

The unkempt man that answered looked between the two boys, ‘what the hell do you want?’ His unshaved and haggard face was hidden below a faded blue cap. His eyes were black and cold.

‘We were sent by Nedley,’ Jeremy said nervously.

‘Nedley!?’ the man cried. ‘Now there’s a joke… it’s been ten years since I heard from him.’ There was clear anger in his face. ‘What the hell does he want?’

Jeremy looked at Pete, he was afraid to ask, ‘he told us that you might have something we need… Shadow’s Stem.’

The man’s face changed to pure sincerity and shock, ‘now what in God’s name do you need that for?’

‘We need to defeat something… um…’ Jeremy paused. As his eyes met Pete, his friend just shrugged. ‘… other worldly.’ He assumed that because this man knew Nedley and Nedley told them he was dangerous, they he knew of the other world that existed in Purgatory. Jeremy could see the man was unconvinced. ‘Please, we’re desperate.’

The man could see it in his eyes and after a pause, beckoned for them to follow him into the house. A little wary, Pete and Jeremy wanted to hesitate but the situation was out of their control. They needed this ingredient otherwise the group would continue to be haunted by an un-killable pack of demons.

Inside, the house was dark and musty. It was not a pleasant smell for either of the werewolves’ noses as they followed the man into a back room filled with shelves. On the shelves were endless jars and bottles containing a vast array of ingredients and things that the boys couldn’t even put a name to. They stood respectfully in the door way whilst the man scoured the shelves.

‘Do you know why Nedley hasn’t been around to see me in ten years?’ the man asked as his fingers traced the labels on the jars.

‘He said you were dangerous…’ Jeremy replied carefully.

At this the man whirled round looking aghast, ‘dangerous!’ he almost laughed before looking back at the jars. ‘The danger is only in how furious I will be when I actually lay my eyes on him.’ He found the jar he was looking for and took it down from the shelf. He found another smaller jar and using some tongs he began to take out some of the black plant and pull of leaves to place in it. ‘He took something very precious from me and I am still waiting for his apology.’ Showing that he was irritated, he slammed the top of the small jar on and tightened it hastily before walking over to Jeremy and Pete. He held it out for them to take. ‘You tell him to come and find me… it’s been long enough.’

Jeremy took the jar, ‘we will… thank you.’

As they went to turn away, Pete looked back at the man, ‘what’s your name?’

The man was back in the room putting the original jar back up on the shelf, ‘Juan Carlo,’ he replied without looking round.

‘What did Nedley take from you?’

 

‘You took his wife!?’ Jeremy cried as he and Pete burst back into the library.

‘Oh Lord…’ Nedley sighed. ‘You had to go and see Juan Carlo then?’ Wynonna stared at her watcher dumbfounded. ‘In my defence it was a long time ago…’ he added raising his finger.

‘So that’s why he would be dangerous…’ Jeremy continued. ‘Dangerous because he might beat up anyone associated with you for what you did!’

‘Nedley… my man,’ Wynonna said playfully hitting Nedley on the arm. ‘You just got WAY more interesting.’

Shaking his head, Jeremy held up the jar full of Shadow’s Stem leaves, ‘he’s still waiting for his apology…’ Nedley took the jar. ‘Luckily he could see how desperate we were so still gave us those.’

‘Good… now we can get to work,’ Nedley said turning away to collect things from his office. ‘Jeremy, the book, read the page. What do we need to do?’

‘Are you going to apologise?’ Wynonna called after Nedley.

When he reappeared, Nedley was carrying a box of everything they would need to mix up the poison, ‘it’s none of your business Wynonna.’

‘Er when you sent Jeremy and Pete to the man whose wife you stole with the danger of them being beaten up because he’s still understandably pissed off… it became all of our businesses,’ she stated.

‘I concur!’ Jeremy called from where he was reading the book.

With another sigh, Nedley stopped unpacking the box and looked at them all, ‘her name was Mary… she and I both worked for The Council. Juan Carlo also used to be a Watcher. Mary and I were placed in the same research office and well… one thing led to another…’ he looked away as if some painful memory had hit him. ‘We were in London when Juan Carlo found out. He found us and angry, he hit her. Terrified, she ran from the hotel and into the road…’ he stopped again. ‘She was hit by a car.’ He glanced at the three listening to him. Their eyes were wide and saddened. ‘Unable to stay in England, Juan Carlo moved here and then by some ironic joke, so was I when I was picked to be your watcher Wynonna.’ Taking a deep breath he continued unpacking the box. ‘I will never be proud of what I did and she is the only woman I have ever truly loved… I guess we all have our skeletons.’

‘I’m so sorry Nedley,’ Wynonna said sincerely.

Nedley acknowledged this with a sad smile her way, ‘and I am sorry that I put you in that position boys, I guess I’m just ashamed.’

‘Think no more of it,’ Jeremy assured him.

‘Come on… we better get to work…’ Wynonna said placing a hand on Nedley’s hand before all their attention was turned to the book and what they would need to do to create the poison.

‘It says that it needs to be driven deep underneath the skin to work,’ Pete pointed out showing them the line with his finger.

‘Weapons… we can put it on weapons,’ Wynonna suggested.

‘I’ll make sure it’s thick enough to stick to them,’ Jeremy nodded beginning to put the equipment together to mix it. Pete went to his side wanting to help out in any way he can.

‘Bullets… bullets would be perfect,’ Nedley thought.

‘I’ll call Doc,’ Wynonna agreed. She looked at the cage; Rosita was still inside watching their every move. If The Order came for them that night, they would need everyone they could get. Wynonna hoped that Rosita meant what she said and would fight alongside them.

 

As if they were made of polystyrene, Nicole blasted the school’s front doors off their hinges to allow herself and the ten members of The Order to enter the school with ease. The anticipation was building inside all of them but especially Nicole. The memory of all the feelings she had felt for Waverly and her friends were squirming inside her and were nauseating. She had to put it right, she had to kill them all. It would be the only way she could rid of how human they had made her feel. The demon within already hated how much humanity existed alongside it. It was a struggle every vampire had to deal with. The only thing that would quieten the disgust would be taking as many lives and causing as much pain as possible.

Turning the corner the library sign loomed insight above the door. Excited, Nicole’s mouth curled up into a malicious smile, ‘you ready boys?’ she said pausing her stride. They stood still for a moment as they all looked at the dark wooden doors closed in front of them. ‘As instructed by Willa, kill everyone inside. We leave no one alive… except…’ she looked sideways at the leader.

‘No one touches the witch,’ he said.

‘Good demon,’ Nicole smirked. She returned her eyes to the library. ‘Let’s have some fun.’

With one kick to the door, they flew open allowing Nicole to march into the library followed by The Order. From around one table, Wynonna, Doc, Jeremy, Pete and Nedley whirled round startled. From inside the cage, Rosita approached the door and growled at what had entered.

Wynonna’s eyes instantly went to Nicole, ‘Nicole… what are you doing?’

‘Hello slayer,’ she snarled. ‘Missed me?’

Wynonna blinked, bewildered by Nicole’s cold tone, ‘Waverly has… where have you been?’ she walked forward cautiously. She looked at The Order standing to attention behind her. ‘Why are you with them?’

Slowly, Nicole licked her tongue over her teeth, she was still in human form but the action still carried a threatening impression, ‘things are a bit different now…’

‘Different?’

‘I’m not the vampire that you knew,’ Nicole went on enjoying every moment.

Behind Wynonna, all the others looked just as confused. Wynonna studied Nicole carefully, looking deep into her eyes. They were dark, hollow and unmeaning. Something was definitely different. ‘What’s happened to you?’

Nicole went to reply, but the answer was taken off her lips by other voice, ‘she’s lost her soul.’ Everyone whirled round to see Waverly looking down at them from upper section of the library. Her face was harsh and also cold as she stared at the vampire she loved. At least, the shell of that very creature.

‘Well hello lover,’ Nicole sneered. Waverly was unmoved despite the pain inside.

‘Waverly?’ Wynonna asked carefully not to turn her back on Nicole and The Order. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Like every other vampire… she feels nothing… she’s…’ Waverly had to stop. She swallowed to gather herself. ‘She’s evil Wynonna…’ Horrified, Wynonna looked back at Nicole and could see it in her eyes. The softness and feeling that had been so evident, especially in the way that Nicole looked at Waverly, was completely gone.

‘How did this happen?’

‘Oh wow,’ Nicole smirked looking at Waverly. ‘Do you want to tell them, or shall I?’ At this, Waverly could no longer stay strong. She had to tear her eyes away as the tears rose again. Seeing this, Nicole lapped up all the enjoyment of it. ‘One moment of happiness… that’s all I needed… which Waverly was very willing to provide me with.’ Upon hearing Waverly’s sobbing, Jeremy had already worked it out and tore up the steps to take her into his arms. She clutched onto him tightly as he wrapped his arms tightly around her feeling sudden and completely hatred for Nicole and her cruelty.

‘One moment of happiness?’ Wynonna frowned.

‘Oh slayer… use your imagination,’ Nicole laughed. Also hearing Waverly’s crying, it finally hit Wynonna. As the realisation sunk in, the repulsive look of enjoyment at Waverly’s pain suddenly angered the slayer to act.

‘You bitch!’ she cried moving forward and striking Nicole hard across the face.

Reeling slightly, Nicole put her hand to her mouth where her lip was bleeding, ‘oh… enjoy that while you can slayer, because as you can see, I have ten big boys here who are ready to party.’

‘You are so dead Nicole…’ Wynonna seethed.

‘Oh no slayer… you’ll be the one to die tonight,’ Nicole growled back. She stumbled back so that she was standing nearer the demons using them as protection.

‘Nedley, get Rosita out!’ Wynonna cried to her Watcher. She looked Rosita in the eye. ‘Time to prove yourself.’ Rosita nodded as Nedley used his keys to unlock the cage and release her. She looked at Doc who glanced back unsure of the situation. With trembling hands, he put the bullets back into his guns from which they had been emptied. Pete threw weapons carefully up to Waverly and Pete who was still trying to console her whilst filling her in.

‘Don’t let her win…’ Jeremy whispered. ‘As you said, she’s not the woman you loved.’

‘I don’t think I can kill her Jeremy,’ Waverly wept.

Jeremy took her hand, ‘then kill them.’ He gestured to the demons. Waverly liked the distraction and gripped her crossbow more tightly as she held it up to take aim. She’d only had a little training from Wynonna, but with the hurt and anger flowing inside her, she was sure it would be enough.

Below them, Nicole gave the demons the nod and they rushed forwards. Wynonna rushed back and grabbed one of the swords from the table. Behind her, Doc threw an axe to Rosita whilst Nedley wielded a sword of his own. Despite being outnumbered, they knew that this time, they had a chance.

Wynonna only wanted to go for Nicole, but instead two demons came into her path. She had to use her sword to fight against theirs. Metal clashed and bodies twisted as they engaged trying to chop at the other. Despite her best efforts, Wynonna was not able to get her sword anywhere near the flesh of the demons. Beside her, Rosita was having the same difficulty. Although the gang were now armed with what they needed, The Order were highly skilled fighters and were not letting them in easily. Nicole held back and watched her demons begin to overwhelm the humans and Rosita.

However, the tide was turned quickly when Doc began to shoot his bullets into the fray. At first they missed but then one struck a demon straight in the chest. In shock, it fell to the floor and began to writhe violently. After a few moments, it became still and melted into nothing on the floor. All the demons looked at it and realised that they were in a very different fight now. Nicole looked less than amused as she glared at Doc. She knew then who her first victim was going to be. As the fight carried on around her, she wormed her way through the bodies towards the gunman. Rosita saw this instantly. Spurned, she ducked a demon’s lash of his sword and managed to slice hers straight across his middle. It was deep enough to send the poison wiped all over the metal into its system. With an almighty cry, it fell to the floor and met its fate just like the first. Freed, Rosita rushed across the library and met Nicole before the other vampire could reach Doc.

‘Well isn’t this repulsive,’ Nicole growled. ‘You, fighting for them.’

‘You will not lay a finger on him,’ Rosita warned her. She stepped back and held the sword out in front of her. ‘He’s mine.’

Nicole smirked, ‘the poison won’t work on me.’

‘No…’ Rosita agreed. ‘But it’ll bloody hurt.’

As the vampires began to fight, Waverly remained up on the balcony firing her arrows. She had to be careful with each shot as Nedley, Pete, Jeremy and Wynonna turned, twisted and ducked in amongst the demons as they did everything they could to drive their weapons deep into the demon’s flesh. Two down already, the odds were beginning to turn in their behaviour. Spotting her chance, as Pete used his foot to push a demon back off him, Waverly pressed the trigger. The arrow flew perfectly through the air as the demon staggered back into space. He had only just got his balance before the arrow struck him deep in the shoulder. He looked at it mortified before he fell to the floor and evaporated into nothing. Pete looked up at Waverly with a relieved glance. They couldn’t enjoy it for long before he saw that Jeremy was struggling against the demon attacking him.

Spinning, Wynonna finally found an opening and drove one of the demons back against the cage. At the force of her kick, he dropped his weapon and Wynonna was able to slice off one of its arms. As black blood dripped from the stump the poison flowed in. The demon couldn’t register the pain of its horrific injury long enough as soon he too was gone. Looking round, Wynonna saw that Nedley was being held by his throat against the door frame of his office. Before she was able to reach him, he was thrown across the tables and landed in a heap on the other side.

‘That’s my Nedley!’ Wynonna cried infuriated. Tearing across the library she jumped high and kicked the demon in the back of its head. It fell forward and smashed its face into the door frame. With a cry, it stumbled back into Wynonna’s grip. Using the blade near the hilt of the sword, Wynonna sliced it through the demon’s neck. Realising it was a shallow cut, as it coughed and gargled; Wynonna spun it round and drove the sword right through its chest. She didn’t wait to see it become vapour as her concern was to ensure that Nedley was alright. Looking round, she saw him staggering to his feet with only a small cut to his cheek.

‘Well this is not going as planned,’ came Nicole’s voice from behind her. Wynonna had barely looked round when Nicole’s fist connected with her cheek sending her to the floor. The vampire had clearly given up on trying to get past Rosita to Doc. ‘Very annoying that you all found out about Shadow’s Stem.’ She brought her foot back and delivered a powerful kick to Wynonna’s ribs. The slayer groaned in agony as she flew backwards into the bottom step leading up to the balcony. ‘I guess, I’m just going to have to settle for…’ she didn’t finish as an arrow suddenly whistled past her cheek. It was so close that it sliced through a thin layer of her skin. Stunned, she placed a finger to it so find that it was bleeding as she looked up at Waverly glaring down at her. ‘Wow Waves… you actually grew a pair. Didn’t expect that.’

She had just finished speaking when she found herself reeling backwards as it was Wynonna’s turn to deliver a powerful kick to the vampire’s chest. ‘That is for breaking my best friend’s heart,’ Wynonna raged. Nicole’s back hit the librarian’s front desk. She used it to get her balance.

‘Did I break it?’ Nicole asked cocking her head wickedly. ‘That’s just delicious.’

Furious, Wynonna attacked her again but Nicole was able to rebuff her advances. Swiftly and impressively, the pair exchanged and block each other’s punches as they moved through the middle of the ongoing battles with the demons around them. With only four left, Doc was enjoying every bullet he shot as he watched the demon’s fall all around them and become nothing. As another fell next to Nicole, it distracted her for a moment, allowing Wynonna to shove her backwards into some shelves. The force caused Nicole to fly off the floor and land on the floor bringing all the shelves down with her. Shaking herself, she pushed the shattered wood off her body. Clearly incensed, she changed her face to its vulgar demonic form and launched into the fight again. She rammed her hand forward to try to connect with Wynonna’s face but the slayer was quicker and ducked. As she did so, she slammed her elbow into Nicole’s face causing her to stumble backwards again, this time out of the library doors. From the balcony, Waverly watched as Wynonna followed intending to see the fight out.

‘Did you know?’ Wynonna asked punching Nicole again.

Managing to remain on her feet, Nicole backed away amused, ‘did I know what?’

‘That you could lose your soul if you slept with Waverly?’ Wynonna demanded.

‘Actually no…’ Nicole admitted. She then looked thoughtful. ‘Kinda wished I had though… I would have gone for it so much earlier.’ She held her arms out as she stood in the middle of the school corridor. ‘I’m having so much more fun now.’ Infuriated by this, Wynonna advanced again. She raised her foot to try to kick Nicole in the face but Nicole grabbed it with both hands. Twisting her arms, she spun Wynonna over so that she landed on the floor. Bending down next to her, Nicole grabbed hold of Wynonna’s jacket and slid her across the floor so that the slayer’s face collided with some of the lockers. The force caused them to dent inwards. ‘No remorse, no pain…’ she took hold of Wynonna by the collar and thrust her into the lockers. Wynonna tried to fight her, but the vampire’s grip was too tight. ‘And best of all, no worrying about what the perfect, frankly highly irritating, little slayer has to say about me…’

‘Do you know what I do have to say about you?’ Wynonna gasped. Nicole looked intrigued. ‘You were never good enough for Waverly… even with a soul.’ Taking Nicole completely by surprise, she bucked her head forward crashing their foreheads together. It stung her own horribly, but it caused Nicole to let go and stagger backwards. Wynonna ignored her pain and kicked out into Nicole’s chest so that the vampire was now the one reeling backwards into the lockers on the other side of hallway shrouded in darkness. ‘I’m so going to enjoy killing you…’ she landed a punch on Nicole’s face, then another and another. ‘… as I should have done right at the beginning.’ Nicole fell to the floor as the punches continued to rain down on her. Blood poured from cuts which split all over her face.

At the sound of Nicole’s laughter, Wynonna pulled away bewildered. Blinking through the blood in her eyes, Nicole just sneered at Wynonna, ‘do you really think Waverly will forgive you?’ she asked. ‘If you kill me…’

Taking her stake out of her jacket pocket, Wynonna gripped it tightly, ‘hopefully… one day she will.’ Holding Nicole down, who didn’t look frightened at all, Wynonna brought the stake up.

‘Wynonna!’ came Waverly’s scream as she tore down the corridor.

Closing her eyes, Wynonna didn’t take her grip off Nicole, ‘Waverly… you don’t want to see this…’

‘Please… don’t…’ Waverly begged.

‘Waverly… she’s not the person you loved…’ In her grip, Nicole was smiling. It was as if she had known. It made Wynonna only want to stake her that much more.

‘There might be a way I can get her back…’ Waverly pleaded. ‘The gypsies did it… maybe I can…’

‘No… Waverly, I have to do this…’ Wynonna argued tightening her grip on her stake and on Nicole as she continued to pin the vampire against the lockers.

As Wynonna’s stake moved towards Nicole, Waverly rushed forward and put her hand in the way, ‘I can’t let you kill her…’ Her desperate eyes burned into the slayer’s.

Nicole took her chance as Wynonna’s concentration wavered. Rearing up she caused both Waverly and Wynonna to stagger backwards as she pushed them off. With Wynonna’s balance compromised, Nicole kicked her in the stomach to send her sprawling across the floor before turning to Waverly.

Waverly held her breath as she came face to face with Nicole, the blood covering her evil vampire face made her look even more demonic. ‘Soon my love,’ Nicole whispered viciously. She grabbed Waverly’s face and placed a harsh kiss on the human’s lips. It should have been one that Waverly could enjoy but there was no feeling in it, instead it was mocking and cruel. Her message delivered, Nicole shoved Waverly to the floor before running away down the corridor and out of the gaping hole where the school’s doors had once stood.

From the floor, Waverly watched her go, along with all the happiness and love she had once felt. The arms she was using to support her gave way and she began to sob into the floor.

‘Oh Waves…’ crawling over, Wynonna wrapped an arm under her friend and pulled the weeping girl into her arms. ‘It’s okay…’ Waverly turned so she could bury her head into Wynonna’s shoulder. Wynonna kissed her head and held onto her as tightly as she could. ‘It’ll be okay.’ In truth, even she was struggling to believe her own words.

‘It won’t be okay…’ both Waverly and Wynonna looked round to see Doyle emerge from the shadows. ‘Not unless you find a way to kill her.’

‘I…. I can’t…’ Waverly wept into Wynonna’s arms as she gripped onto them.

‘Then you’re going to have a lot of blood on your hands…’

‘Will you shut up!’ Wynonna spat causing Doyle to jump backwards. ‘Where were you to warn us that this could happen huh?’ Doyle looked away a little ashamed. ‘Unless you can help us to find a way to put this right then you can slither away to whatever hole you came from.’ She stared at him with a heavy glare. ‘Well… what’s it to be?’

Doyle looked at Waverly who stared at him with pleading eyes then back at Wynonna, ‘I’ll stay….’ He nodded knowing that he had failed them. He should’ve been more convincing when trying to make Nicole leave. ‘… I’ll fight… we’ll find a way.’ He looked out of the door the way that Nicole had run. ‘We have to find a way… because only the devil knows what we’ve unleashed…’

One by one the others appeared from the library, each one of them alive and safe indicating that the fight with The Order was over. They discarded their weapons and approached the girls cradling each other on the floor slowly. As they did, Wynonna looked up and met their eyes. All of them, except Rosita, felt for Waverly and could not comprehend the pain she must have been feeling. Jeremy even found tears building in his own eyes as he listened to his lifelong friend cry into Wynonna’s shoulder. Wynonna’s gaze found Nedley and their eyes met in an understanding that although they had just defeated The Order, with Nicole now evil, they had a new fight on their hands. Nicole had been one of the most prolific vampires ever to exist in history. Now she was loose and soulless in Purgatory. No one in the town was safe.

 


	18. School Hard

 

Upon entering the house, Wynonna could tell by Gus’ downbeat face that she hadn’t seen any improvement from Waverly. Heading up the stairs, it was like the darkness also overcame her as she could sense what she was about to walk into. Pushing the door open, she was surprised to see that Waverly was not in her bed but instead by the window gazing out into the night air. From the shine on her cheeks, Wynonna could see she had been crying.

‘Hey,’ Wynonna said gently walking up to her side. From her seated position on the window sill, Waverly only slightly changed the position of her head to acknowledge her friend. ‘How you doing?’

‘I turned my girlfriend evil…’ Waverly spoke plainly. ‘How would you be?’ Despite the pain on her face, Waverly’s voice was cold and weak.

Wynonna sighed, she knew there was nothing she could say but she had to try. ‘At least it was because she loved you that much… it wouldn’t have happened otherwise.’

‘Doesn’t matter now… the Nicole I love is gone… and unless we find a way to get her back,’ she looked at Wynonna, her eyes misting. ‘… you’re going to have to kill her.’ Her voice trembled with the words as she forced them out.

The thought filled Wynonna with trepidation, ‘you know I will not do it waving pom poms…’ Waverly could say no more as her eyes drifted back to the darkness in front of her. Her joking having fallen flat, Wynonna sensed a change in subject was needed. ‘I slept with Doc…’

Waverly’s eyes whipped back, ‘you what?’

Closing her eyes, Wynonna processed the words again, ‘I slept with Doc.’ Waverly was simply speechless. Wynonna nodded slowly in agreement. ‘Yep…’

‘Well er…’ Waverly blinked with the shock. ‘Do you… do you love him?’

‘No…’ Wynonna said a little quickly. ‘Maybe… I don’t know…’

‘What about Dolls?’

‘There lies the problem…’ Wynonna said as she now looked out into the night. The ghostly shadows of birds flitted in and out of sight. Apart from this, the dark was still and soundless. ‘I wouldn’t call our lives enviable right now…’

Waverly examined her kindly, ‘why did you do it?’

‘To feel something I guess…’ Wynonna admitted. ‘And a little bit of… I have this crazy band of un-killable demons after me so I’m sure as hell not going to die a virgin.’

Waverly’s head bobbed in agreement. ‘Understandable.’

Shaking her head, Wynonna couldn’t help but chuckle ironically, ‘what are we going to do Waves?’

‘I think staring out into the darkness is good right now,’ Waverly suggested her eyes following the birds. She resented their freedom. How dreadfully she wanted to fly away and find some solace anywhere else. ‘Because right now I’m trying to do all I can to not think.’

With nothing to add, Wynonna slung an arm around Waverly’s shoulders and kissed the top of her head as the slayer and her friend continued to try and find comfort in the dark landscape that stretched out before them.

 

As another candlestick flew across the cave, one of Bobo’s vampires ducked to avoid being stuck directly in the face. In his chair, Bobo watched nearly amused as Nicole tore up his cave in pure fury. That was until one of the candlesticks whistled right past his face.

‘Hey!’ he cried. ‘Watch the beard!’ He placed his fingers to it to check it wasn’t smouldering.

‘That… damn… stupid… bitch!’ she screamed as she swung her arm and swiped one of the sticks to the floor. Helpless, the candles scattered across the rocky carpet.

‘Would that be the slayer or your ex?’ Bobo enquired. His answer came only in Nicole’s face twisting into vampire form and an angry growl being sent across the air. ‘… okay okay… touchy.’

Nicole took a few moments to calm herself and return her face back to now deceiving angelic appearance. Sullenly, she crossed the cave and slumped into Willa’s empty chair next to Bobo. ‘The slayer should be dead… and we should be celebrating.’

‘Indeed… that wasn’t the outcome you promised…’

‘How did I know they’d found out about Shadow’s Stem?’ Nicole brooded playing with her fingers.

‘That wasn’t ideal… I’ll agree with you there,’ Bobo conceded. He sat up straight and looked Nicole right in the eye. ‘The question is… what are you going to do next?’

A devious smile curled into view, ‘well… I’m certainly not going to let Wynonna think she’s off the hook…’ with a fresh thought, she sprung from the chair. ‘Oh no…’ she paused as she continued to think through her idea. ‘I’m going to hit here where she least expects…’

Bobo leaned forward in anticipation, ‘do go on…’

‘Oh Bobo,’ Nicole sneered. ‘This is going to be fun…’

 

A place which used to be hers to own, now seemed like a completely anomalous land. Holding her bag on her shoulder tightly, Waverly wandered through the other teenagers as they strolled between classes or converged by the lockers. Her mind wandered over the days when she was dating Perry and was associated with Mercedes. She couldn’t believe that she was actually wishing for those days back. But it was far better than the pain she was feeling.

‘Waverly…’ the voice seemed distant and strange. Looking round she saw a woman beckoning her over from one of the offices. ‘Can I have a word?’ Confused, Waverly could only nod as she followed the blonde middle-aged woman in the room behind the door. Inside was a cosy office with a desk in the corner and two comfy blue chairs opposite each other with a small table between them. The woman gestured to the one of the chairs. Almost instinctively, Waverly dropped her bag off her shoulder and sat down nervously. Holding a clipboard, the woman sat down across from her. ‘Do you know who I am Waverly?’ The young brunette could only shake her head. ‘I’m Dawn… the school counsellor.’ She watched Waverly for a reaction but Waverly sat unmoved. ‘Do you know why I’ve called you in here today?’ Again, Waverly did not move but began to look concerned. Dawn looked down at her clipboard and flicked through some of the bits of paper fastened to it. ‘Your grades have dropped recently…’ she looked back up. ‘What can you tell me about that?’

Waverly adjusted herself uneasily. She didn’t know where to start or what she could say. ‘I don’t know what to say about that…’

‘Has something changed in your life recently?’ Nicole instantly flashed into Waverly’s mind causing Waverly to desperately try and shut the vampire out. ‘Or over the past few months as they’ve been dipping for a while?’

‘No… nothing has changed,’ Waverly lied. Even if she wanted to, she could not reveal the truth. If she did, the school would deem her to need a lot more the counsellor.

Dawn studied her, ‘I’m not sure I believe you…’ she waited, hoping for Waverly to speak but the young girl said nothing. ‘You know anything you say in here will be confidential… unless I judge it to be something of real concern…’

‘Okay…’ Waverly started getting a little irritated. ‘You know the new student? Wynonna. Well she’s a vampire slayer and I’ve been helping her to fight vampires whilst also learning to become a witch. Oh… and the other night, I slept with my girlfriend for the first time who is a vampire and it turned her evil. As she had a soul but I gave her a moment of pure happiness causing her to lose said soul… so now instead of making the happiest I have ever been in my entire life, she’s trying to kill me. That a good enough explanation for you?’

The two stared at each other as silence fell over the room. Waverly sat as still as she could, feigning composure, whilst her heart pounded in her chest. Slowly, an entertained smile appeared on Dawn’s face. ‘I can see I’m not going to get anywhere here…’ As discretely as she could, Waverly let out a sigh of relief. She did not know what possessed her to say what she had. ‘… though did I hear right that you have a girlfriend?’

‘Had…’ Waverly corrected sorely.

‘I’m sensing a bad break up…’ Dawn pressed gently.

Waverly shuddered at the memory. ‘I really don’t want to talk about it.’

‘I think it would help you did…’

‘Please,’ Waverly urged her eyes tearing. ‘I can’t… I really can’t talk about it.’

Dawn sighed as she continued to study the young girl, ‘well… if you do… you know where I am… because…’ she looked at her clipboard again. ‘It’s worrying that your grades are slipping so much. You had a very promising future ahead of you, but you’re going to throw it all away if you’re not careful…’ The words fell on deaf ears. Waverly could think of nothing beyond what she had lost. ‘So… to try and get you back into the school spirit… I have suggested that you be in charge of parent teacher night.’ Waverly’s eyes widened with dismay. ‘I know… I know… not cool as you kids would put it, but I feel you need something to focus your mind back on where it should be.’

Disconsolate, Waverly realised this was not something she was going to win, ‘fine… what do I need to do?’

‘Refreshments for the parents, a welcome banner and a few posters should do it… plenty to keep you busy over the next couple of days.’ Waverly could only manage an unimpressed nod as she retrieved her bag and got to her feet. ‘Waverly…’ she turned back to look at Dawn’s compassionate face. ‘I’m always here if you need someone to talk to… my door is always open.’ Right now, Dawn felt like the enemy and Waverly couldn’t bear to see anymore of her. Without looking back, she slung her bag over her shoulder and marched out of the door.

 

‘Paint?’ Wynonna enquired as she marched into the library. Waverly sat stooped over a large piece of paper stretched out on the floor with blue on her paintbrush and marks up her arms. Wynonna stood behind her to read what was sketched out in the pencil. ‘Oh man… so sorry Waves.’

‘Stupid school counsellor thinks that because my grades are slipping… this will get me back in touch with what is important,’ Waverly said mockingly. ‘Clueless woman has no idea.’

‘To be fair Waverly… she really could have no idea what is going on,’ Wynonna pointed out.

‘Oh I told her,’ Waverly said straightening. Wynonna stared back mortified. Waverly allowed herself to enjoy Wynonna’s stunned expression for a moment before her conscience got the better of her. ‘She didn’t believe me of course. So you can breathe.’

Wynonna let out the breath she was holding, ‘Jesus Waves…’

‘But could my life suck anymore right now?’ Waverly groaned gesturing to the huge banner she had to finish. ‘I’ve got two days to finish this, three posters and refreshments. When all I want to do is crawl into bed and forget the world exists right now.’

‘Why don’t you?’ Wynonna asked with a shrug. ‘I mean… will the school fall apart if it doesn’t have a damn Welcome Parents banner? Teachers hate parent teacher night… so I doubt they’re actually feeling all that welcoming…’

In surprise, even to herself, Waverly let out a little laugh, ‘maybe because that tiny part of me that is still a school nerd… and cares a little…’

‘Tiny?’ Wynonna teased hitting her lightly.

However, Waverly could only feel tears rising in her eyes again, ‘I wish it could be all that mattered again.’ Feeling the pain in her chest and stomach again, Waverly cried into the back of her hand as it still gripped the paintbrush.

‘Oh Waves…’ Wynonna sighed. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a redundant paintbrush lying on the floor. ‘Now look… you’re going to make me do something completely uncharacteristic.’

Waverly sniffed back her tears, ‘what?’

Bending down, Wynonna swept up the paintbrush in her hand, ‘show some freaking school spirit!’ Rolling her sleeves up, she knelt down and dipped her brush in the paint to continue where Waverly had left off. ‘Come on girl, get down here with me… we’re going to suffer in this together. If neither of us can have an uncomplicated romantic thingamajig, we’re going to suffer in this together.’

With a sad laugh, Waverly knelt down next to Wynonna, ‘I kinda love you sometimes.’

‘Yeah well,’ Wynonna smiled as she raised her brush to paint a blue dot on Waverly’s nose. ‘… I’m very lovable.’ Creasing up her nose at the uncomfortable feeling of the cold paint on her skin, Waverly closed her eyes and shook her head. The affection however, did add a little much needed warmth to her heart.

 

Exhausted, Waverly slumped through the front door. Arms covered in splashes of blue paint, hair ruffled and tired eyes greeted Gus as the older woman stood in the kitchen doorway. It was a few moments before Waverly even realised she was there as her thoughts had drifted back to the one thing on her mind.

‘Well look at the state of you…’ Gus quipped. Once she had placed her bag down on the floor, Waverly looked up and glared at her. ‘Bad day?’

‘Bad week,’ Waverly stated.

‘Come on…’ Gus said with a kind smile. ‘Dinner’s on the table.’ Waverly wasn’t hungry but she still followed her guardian through to the kitchen where a plate was waiting for her. She collapsed into the chair and just stared down at the meal not reaching for her fork. ‘You need to eat honey.’

‘Not hungry.’

Gus sat in the chair at the opposite end of the table watching Waverly, ‘why won’t you tell me what’s wrong?’ she asked with a furrowed brow. ‘Maybe I can help…’

‘Trust me… you can’t,’ Waverly said without looking at her.

‘Is it Nicole?’ Gus pressed softly. ‘Have you two had a fight?’

There was a pause on the question. ‘I wish…’ Waverly muttered under her breath.

‘What was that?’

Waverly took in a long breath as she fought the sting in her chest, ‘nothing…’ she met Gus’ eyes for the first time and saw only love and kindness in them. After everything it took for Gus to accept Nicole, Waverly couldn’t bear to tell her what had happened. ‘Listen… at parent teacher night tomorrow, you’re probably not going to like what you hear…’

‘Waverly…?’ Gus began.

‘My grades have slipped…’ Waverly continued tentatively. She watched as an unimpressed expression began to appear on Gus’ face. ‘It’s because I’ve been trying to save the world nearly every night… that’s a good excuse right?’

‘Well it’s certainly a new one,’ Gus admitted.

‘But you get it?’ Waverly asked nervously.

Gus reverted her eyes as she toiled with her answer. ‘Waverly… to be honest, I wish you’d never got caught up in this other world. Life seemed much simpler when you were dating Perry, hung out with those girls, did your cheerleading and got those good grades…’

‘But that wasn’t me…’ Waverly protested. ‘Since meeting Wynonna and facing what we face every day… I feel more like myself than I ever have. I’m doing good Gus… Mercedes and her… groupies… are just the most mind-numbing bunch of idiots that only ever think about themselves.’ A little spark had returned to Waverly has she went on. ‘When we face a vampire or a demon or some sort of hell beast and defeat it, the feeling that we might have saved at least one life… Gus, it’s incredible.’

Gus absorbed the words as she kept her eyes fixed on her daughter, ‘when you say these things… it fills me with real pride… that you are someone that cares so much for others.’ Waverly found herself managing a little smile. However, sitting forward, Gus’ face remained stern and worried. ‘But it cannot become your whole life. I want you to go to college; I want you to build a future for yourself. This slaying thing won’t always be your life.’

‘What if it is Gus? I honestly can’t see myself doing anything else right now.’

‘Because you’re young…’ Gus smiled knowingly. ‘… you’re like any young woman discovering themselves. All you can see of tomorrow is your next fight and Nicole.’ Waverly looked away at the mention of the name. ‘But darling… what you must understand is that there is so much more out there for you.’ Seeing the pain on Waverly’s face, Gus got up from her chair and took the one next to Waverly so that she could place a loving hand on Waverly’s arm. ‘I’m not going to ask you to give up this new life, as much as it terrifies me, but will you promise me you’ll at least try to improve your grades?’

Waverly couldn’t say anymore. With a little nod, she fell into Gus arms. A little surprised Gus didn’t move for a moment then slowly wrapped her arms around the shattered girl. She knew there was more going on than Waverly was telling her but she would not push. She was young once and she remembered clearly just how bewildering it all was.

 

Grabbing her leather jacket from the back of Bobo’s chair, Nicole headed for the exit of the cave followed by a gang of Bobo’s vampire henchmen. The look on her face was of pure menace, wanting to get the job done.

‘Er excuse me…’ the call caused them all to turn back and face Bobo as he entered the cave from the other tunnel. ‘Where do you think you’re going with my vampires?’

‘I’m going to the school…’ she looked at the other vampires around her. ‘.. my homework is due and I want to make sure I hand it in on time.’

Bobo rolled his eyes, ‘Nicole… my wonderful little package of nasty… you should not waste your time on this.’ He looked at the group around her. ‘Or my vampires… without my permission. It’s very rude.’

Nicole gritted her teeth, ‘Bobo… my good friend… who wears very gender confused clothes…’ she gestured to his large black and brown fur coat. Bobo looked down at it a little rattled. ‘… what the hell else am I going to do all night? I am not going to go out and perform meaningless kills when there are two girls out there that have my name on them.’

‘What about my rising?’ Bobo reminded her. ‘We should be preparing for that.’

‘No Bobo… you should be preparing for that…’ Nicole said getting irritated poking him in his chest. ‘That’s your deal… I’m going to have some fun. Are you any closer to finding a new way to rise since Shae was killed? Which may I remind you was the fault of Wynonna and her pesky little friends…’

Flicking her finger away infuriated, Bobo glared at her. ‘You held the stake.’

‘Because of how that stupid little witch made me feel…’ Nicole said with a shudder. ‘Surely, me snapping their little necks would clear the way for your next attempt?’

Bobo frowned, ‘you’re going to snap their necks?’

‘Just a few ways I’ve thought about killing them,’ Nicole snarled. One side of her mouth curled up. ‘And such delicious thoughts they are too.’

They both revelled in the thought along with the vampires around them. ‘A dead slayer?’ Bobo said pondering the idea. ‘Meaning no slayer….’

‘Meaning… your next rising would be a lot more successful…’ Nicole concluded.

A delighted smile spread onto Bobo’s face, ‘… this can only be a good thing. I like it.’

‘So sir…’ Nicole sniggered. ‘May I go to school?’

Bobo pondered the idea, but only to tease Nicole. ‘Just make sure you follow all the rules… and always… always…’ he paused grinned. ‘… kill the teacher.’

‘No one will leave that school alive,’ Nicole promised him as she and the other vampires swept out of the cave. Watching them go, Bobo walked up to the invisible cage and placed his hand against the barrier holding him in. How he wished he could follow. Maybe after tonight, if Nicole was successful, he would be one step closer to be able to do so.

 

Handing a cup of lemonade to another set of parents, Waverly was greeted by thankful and warm smiles. It wasn’t anything like the warm smile she wanted to see, but it was helping, little by little. She watched as the students and parents milled around the school, some looking proud and others looking a little concerned and disappointed by what they had heard. As she did, Waverly tried to imagine what it would be like to only have the worry of school grades or whether you would have a date to the prom. She couldn’t, those days were so far gone now.

‘Well… I have to say,’ came Dawn’s kind voice as she walked up. Her eyes were on the banner above Waverly’s head. ‘You came through… well done Waverly.’

‘Thank you,’ Waverly replied finding that she was strangely relieved.

Dawn’s eyes were gentle and caring, ‘has it helped?’

‘Helped what?’

‘Rekindle a bit of school spirit?’ Dawn went on.

‘I think it’s going to take a little more than some paint and a few refreshments,’ Waverly said politely.

Dawn chuckled, ‘I know… but I’m glad you put a good effort into the task. The parents are impressed.’ She took one of the drinks already spooned out into a cup and tasted it. Raising her eyes also impressed, she left Waverly to it and returned to her office just down the hall.

‘You have got a lot of explaining to do young lady…’ came Alice’s voice from the other end of the hall. Waverly observed as Wynonna moped her way down the hall with her mother in hot pursuit. ‘You’ve never been academic… but this…’ she held up a piece of paper and waved it in the air. ‘This is unacceptable…’

‘Oh dear…’ Waverly glanced beside her at Gus’ arrival. She had spotted the conversation also. ‘At least you warned me.’ A thought then struck her. ‘Does Alice not know?’

‘No,’ Waverly nodded. ‘So please, you cannot tell her. She has no idea who Wynonna is.’

‘Why doesn’t she tell her?’

‘For the same reason I didn’t want to tell you,’ Waverly whispered aware of the other parents all around them. ‘To protect her.’ Gus smiled touched. ‘The less you know, just like Alice, the safer you are.’

‘Is there something I still don’t know?’ Gus asked a little surprised. ‘I thought you’d told me everything.’

Inside, Waverly panicked, ‘no… you know everything. I was talking about Alice…’ she took her eyes away as another parent approached the table. With pleasantries Waverly served him a drink before returning to Gus as Wynonna and Alice got closer.

‘Oh hi Gus,’ sighed Alice. With irritation she folded up the piece of paper and stuffed it into her purse. ‘I hope Waverly is doing better than Wynonna here…’

Wynonna rolled her eyes, ‘that’s it mother… how about you tell the whole school what a disappointment I am.’

‘You cannot excuse these grades young lady!’ Alice snapped indicating to her bag as she zipped it up. ‘If you have any hope of getting into a decent college you will have to step your game up. I’m thinking I you need a curfew, no more of these late nights…’ Wynonna looked to Waverly for help but Waverly knew she could say nothing.

Instead, having seen the glance, Gus decided she would have to rescue the poor girl, ‘maybe Wynonna has a lot on her plate at the moment?’ she suggested carefully.

‘What partying all night and staying out until the stupid hours of the morning?’ Alice went on. She glared at her daughter. ‘Yes, I hear you sneak out… conveniently I’m always asleep when you return and already out of the door for school when I get up… how you do it, I don’t know.’

‘You have to commend her for going to school…’ Gus pointed out. ‘Even if she’s been up all night.’

‘But she’s not applying herself,’ Alice added. She looked at her daughter. ‘You’re so intelligent honey; I just want to see you do well…’

Gus smiled sympathetically, ‘it’s what we all want… but sometimes life hands us cards that we did not want to play… Wynonna’s time will come…’

Suddenly, the hallway and the rest of the school was plunged into darkness. Confused, along with all those around them, Waverly and Wynonna glanced all around them to try and work out what had happened. A mighty crash, as the windows at the end of the hallway exploded, told them instantly. Whirling round, the two girls saw Nicole and her vampires appear through the shattered glass and march across the café furniture towards the stunned crowd. The looks on their faces told them they were hungry and ready to play.

‘Hello lover…’ Nicole snarled in Waverly’s direction as she stopped and the other vampires gathered behind her. ‘Miss me?’

‘Waverly?’ Gus started. ‘Isn’t that…?’

‘We have to go!’ Wynonna cried as she began pulling them away. ‘Everyone get out of here!’ All around her, people began to scatter, heading desperately for the exits. Yet, the vampires only laughed. Wynonna had to stop as Waverly stood broken in the middle of the hallway, her eyes locked onto Nicole’s. ‘Waves…’ she grabbed Waverly’s arm. ‘We have to go… now!’ With only a little resistance, Waverly allowed herself to be pulled away as Nicole’s cold eyes burned into her. ‘The exit!’ Wynonna shouted to Gus and her mother but when they reached it, they saw to their horror another parent swept up by a waiting vampire. Her screams rang in their ears as they came to a stop. Everyone who had been headed that way changed direction to try another door. Wynonna waited and listened and heard what she feared, more screaming. ‘She’s got the place surrounded.’

‘What do we do?’ Gus asked.

‘Wynonna?’ Alice questioned looking around her terrified. ‘Who are those people?’

Wynonna had to ignore her mother’s confusion and looked at Waverly, ‘you okay?’ Waverly stared blankly ahead still shaken by Nicole’s arrival. ‘Hey!’ she grabbed Waverly’s arms and shook her. ‘You okay?’ Waverly looked at her but could only manage one weak nod. ‘We need to get to a classroom and barricade ourselves in… come on.’ Waverly nodded more to this and followed Wynonna down the hallway and into one of the empty classrooms making sure that Gus and Alice were with them. Inside, they found a group of students and parents already cowering in the corner. ‘It’s going to be okay… Waves… help me to block the door.’ Together, they pulled the teacher’s desk and anything else they could find to ram the door shut and cover the door’s window in some hope that the vampires would not think to check inside.

‘What about the windows?’ Waverly suggested. They looked behind them. The windows were high and awkward, but not out of reach from a slayer. Wynonna met Waverly’s eyes. ‘You can’t… not in front of… others…’

‘I think this situation calls for it Waves…’ Wynonna said not liking it either. ‘I have to make sure these people are safe.’ Waverly continued to stare at her disapprovingly. Wynonna groaned. ‘Fine… I’ll climb…’

‘Wynonna… what do you think you’re doing?’ Alice demanded.

‘Getting us out of here…’ Wynonna told her not breaking stride.

She moved one of the students’ desks over by the window and stood upon it to push one of the windows open. ‘Can someone give me a boost?’ From the corner, a young man appeared and placed his hands underneath her foot. Clearly very strong, he pushed Wynonna up so she could try and crawl out but as her arms stretched for some branches outside, she was quickly set upon. Inside, they could hear the growling. ‘Back up! Back up!’ Wynonna cried. With all she could, she punched the vampire straight in the face before the young man lowered her back into the classroom. ‘Thanks,’ Wynonna said dusting herself off. He flashed a dashing smile and Wynonna found herself lingering upon it for a moment. A slap on the arm from Waverly brought her back into the room. The two looked a little embarrassed for a moment. ‘Yeah, we’re surrounded.’

‘What the hell were you thinking?’ Alice asked stricken.

‘I was thinking about how to save our lives,’ Wynonna argued.

‘From what? What the hell is going on?’

Gus knew that this was her moment, ‘come on… come and sit down… you’re in shock.’ She led Alice to one of the desks and helped her to sit down.

Alone, Wynonna turned to Waverly, ‘I could try Dolls… I know the Initiative aren’t my biggest fans right now… but there are innocent people in danger.’ The moment Waverly nodded, Wynonna pulled her mobile out of her pocket.

 

‘So what now?’ one of the vampires asked as they moved further down the hall.

‘Now…’ Nicole sneered. ‘We listen and we feel the fear…’ she held her arms wide and closed her eyes. ‘Isn’t it glorious?’

The vampire’s eyes flitted from side to side, ‘I can’t feel anything.’

‘That’s because you’re a moron,’ Nicole spat.

‘I get it,’ came another one.

‘And you’re a liar,’ Nicole spat again her way. ‘I miss Shae… she would get it.’ With a growl she looked back down the hall. ‘I guess we have to do this the simple way for you fools. We keep them pinned in. They will panic, they will try to escape and we can pick them off… one by one…’ On her down, Nicole walked down the hall, listening and sensing. She loved the hunt. She loved the chase. She loved taking in the fear and desperation. ‘Where are you?’ She paused outside one of the classrooms before continuing to slowly put one foot in front of the other. ‘Where are you my little Waverly? I want to feel your fear…’ She paused again and closed her eyes. ‘Maybe you’re not afraid…’ she decided. ‘… but you must be hurting…’ she cocked her head and glanced sideways. ‘How I want to feel that too…’ She approached another classroom door. The window was covered, perhaps by a blind but Nicole wanted to find out. With a ferocious kick she sent to the door flying into the room. She flew in after it, only to find the room empty. Nicole, however, was unmoved, ‘… wherever you are… I bet you’re in pain… and that is simply delightful.’

 

Elsewhere in the school, other parents and students had taken shelter in any room, classroom or cupboard they could find – some of these being Mercedes and her mum. Huddled together, they had found themselves in a cleaning cupboard, surrounded by mops, brushes and cleaning products. The smell was unbearable and both were wishing they had found anywhere else to hide. Losing her balance a little, Mercedes mother found herself pressing against one of the brooms wet with mucky water. With a muted cry she covered her mouth and tried to smother her disgust. As shallow as her daughter, the woman only cared about the condition of her air or the appearance and brand of her clothes. Now surrounded by everything they felt was beneath them. Their staying power was going to be severely tested for it was a very small closet.

 

As Waverly watched Wynonna on the phone, she felt a tug on her arm and turned to face a very confused Gus. ‘You’ve told me everything have you?’ she said crossing her arms furious. ‘Is there something you missed?’ Waverly’s head dipped. ‘Because this is not the same woman you brought into my house just a few weeks ago…’ Gus went on unrelenting. ‘Well… she’s not even a woman is she?… she’s a…’ she had to stop as Waverly burst into tears. For a moment, Gus wasn’t sure what to do. ‘Waverly… please… what haven’t you told me?’

Waverly knew she didn’t have a choice. She had so desperately wanted to keep this from Gus. She wiped the tears from her eyes and glanced behind Gus to check that the other people in the room were out of earshot. Along with the young man who had helped Wynonna, they were all cowered in the corner and Alice still trying to gather herself as she sat at the desk.

‘You know what made Nicole different?’ Waverly began. Gus looked blank. ‘Different from other vampires…’ Still nothing. ‘Her soul.’ Gus’ loosening frown showed she had caught up. ‘Well… what we didn’t know is that…’ her voice quivered. ‘… she could… she could lose it.’

‘She lost her soul?’ Gus checked shocked. ‘How did that happen?’

Waverly tried to hold back the tears but they were not cooperating as they spilled down her cheeks, ‘… by feeling…’ she grimaced as the sentence came. ‘…one moment of pure happiness…’

‘A moment of pure happiness?’ Gus repeated confused. ‘How would she feel a…’ she stopped. She could see it in Waverly’s eyes. The heart ache was so obvious. It was all but screaming out at her. ‘Oh Waverly…’ she took the broken girl in her arms and held her close. ‘Oh honey, I’m so sorry…’ Waverly said no more as they let herself fall apart in Gus’ embrace. Gus’ eyes were filled with anger for her as she pictured the malicious look she had seen on Nicole’s face. She pulled Waverly’s face up from her chest. ‘Did she know?’ she asked firmly. ‘Did she know that this would happen if you two…?’

‘No,’ Waverly said quickly but then had to rethink. ‘At least… I don’t think so… I mean, she wouldn’t have would she if there was a chance…?’ as she spoke, Gus could hear that even Waverly was unsure of her words. ‘… if there was a chance she would…’ she fell apart again unable to process the thought.

Gus took her in again, ‘I don’t think she would,’ she whispered. ‘Even I could see how much she loved you, there’s no way that she would have done it knowingly.’ She kissed Waverly’s head as she stroked her daughter’s hair.

‘You useless pieces of…!’ the quickly stopped cry caused everyone in the room to look round at Wynonna as she crossed the room shoving her phone back in her pocket. Gus and Waverly looked at her questioningly. ‘They won’t come and help. At least not at the moment…’

‘What do you mean? At the moment?’ Waverly asked.

‘Apparently there’s a demon problem in Peace River,’ Wynonna sighed. ‘Bloody ironic if you ask me.’ She looked around at the scared faces coming from the corner of the room. ‘Nope… we are on our own.’

 

Standing in the middle of the corridor, Nicole immersed herself in silence. Behind her, some of the vampire pack gathered, waiting for their next command. After some considerable time, or so it felt to them, Nicole raised her eyes with new meaning.

‘Wynonna!’ she shouted into the air as she placed one foot methodically in front of another. She walked with an air of authority, like she now owned the building she stood in. Down the hall, Wynonna and Waverly looked round upon hearing the distant shout. Nicole could already sense where they were. As she passed a fire axe on the wall, she used one of the hands of her vampires to smash through the glass to acquire it. She did not blink to his pain as she held the axe over her shoulder and continued down the hallway. ‘Do they know who you are Wynonna?’

In the classroom, Wynonna and Waverly looked at each other horrified. Wynonna looked back at her mother who had raised her head confused.

‘I think they’d all be pretty fascinated Wynonna,’ Nicole continued as loudly as she could. Swinging the axe, she drove it through a classroom door but once again, it was empty as she peered in. ‘Clearly, you haven’t been telling everyone your little secret… so maybe I should.’ She could feel their fear and she was thriving on it.

‘I have to go out there,’ Wynonna said as she began to panic.

‘No… you can’t…’ Waverly begged holding onto her arm.

‘She’s going to shout it out to the entire world…’ Wynonna protested through gritted teeth trying her best for her mum not to hear. She shrugged Waverly off and began to move the furniture away from the door.

‘What are you doing?’ Alice demanded getting to her feet. ‘You can’t go out there!’

‘She’s right,’ Waverly said breathing down Wynonna’s neck ‘There are too many…’

‘I’ve had worse odds…’ she returned to pulling the furniture away.

‘You keep saying that in these situations… but I think any vampires are bad odds,’ Waverly pointed out.

‘Actually!’ came Nicole’s cruel voice causing her to stop. ‘I don’t think that your little secret would be very interesting Wynonna.’ The vampire was closer now as her voice rang out clearly. ‘I think… Waverly’s is much more exciting.’ Waverly felt her body go cold. Just down the hall, Nicole continued to grip the axe as her eyes searched the doors in front of her. For her, it was a game. ‘What do you say baby? Shall I tell them?’

In the closet, Mercedes and her mother had perched themselves on two buckets in the middle of the small space as they held onto each other. As the words reached their ears they elevated their heads interested, suddenly distracted from their fear.

‘Did she say… baby?’ Mercedes asked her mother.

In other rooms, pupils and parents did the same. They might have been afraid, but Nicole’s voice was captivating and they were keen to know what was going to happen next.

‘Get out there!’ Waverly urged now being the one to move to the furniture.

‘Waverly…’ Wynonna sighed sympathetically.

‘Come on…’ Waverly pleaded.

‘Waves…’

‘Oh now that it’s not going to be your secret… you want to stay in here?’ Waverly snapped showing her desperation.

Wynonna placed a hand on Waverly’s shoulder sympathetically, ‘my secret is kinda more important…’ she said it as carefully as she could but she knew it would be taken badly regardless. She was not wrong.

‘That is not your decision!’ Waverly screamed through her teeth whilst still keeping her voice down. Wynonna still felt the meaning. ‘This is my life… my crappy… painful… horrible life…’ with every word she pulled the furniture away from the door. It crashed and clattered around her. ‘… I have the right for that to stay with me… and just me!’ Wynonna grabbed Waverly’s arm and held them as the young girl continued to fight, but with her strength as the slayer Wynonna was able to quickly subdue her. Still Waverly fought, terrified of what would next ring out through the air.

‘Do they know you’re gay Waverly?’ came the cold cruel words. As soon as they were heard by all in earshot, Waverly crumpled to the floor. She covered her face with her hands and wished the ground would swallow her up. Wynonna was frozen to the spot but Gus rushed to Waverly’s side.

‘Gay?’ Mercedes laughed. ‘Oh wow… Waverly, you little fox.’

In the room in which he was hiding, Perry dropped his head humiliated. He could feel the eyes from some of the other pupils in the room on him. His jaw clenched as he felt sudden and burning anger towards the woman so unashamedly ruining the lives of those within the building.

Feeling Waverly sobbing within her arms, Wynonna felt new impetus to act. ‘Waverly… move…’ Waverly uncovered her face bewildered. ‘Waves…’ Wynonna urged after she didn’t do so. Uneasily, Waverly got to her feet and watched as Wynonna ripped the furniture away from the door. She no longer disguised her strength as she pulled the desk away as if it were paper.

‘What are you doing?’ Waverly asked through her tears.

‘I’ve had enough,’ taking hold of one of the chairs, Wynonna snapped off one of the legs like it was a twig to arm herself with a stake. ‘She’s not doing this to you… not to my friend…’

‘You can’t go out there!’ Waverly objected. The damage was done; she wanted to prevent there being anymore.

‘I second that,’ Alice standing jumping to her feet. ‘Why do you have to go out there? And when on earth did you get so strong?’

‘Mum…’ Wynonna said frustrated. ‘I have to go out there… I can’t tell you why right now… but please, you have to trust me.’ Alice could only stare at her daughter completely perplexed. Wynonna squeezed her hand before opening to the door so hard she nearly tore it off its hinges. Waverly closed it behind the slayer and peered through the door as she strode away down the corridor furious. However, instead of charging towards Nicole, her target became one of the other vampires standing on guard in a different corridor. Wynonna made quick work of him. Coming from behind, she covered his mouth and drove the stake into his chest. Silently he exploded into dust and Wynonna moved on. She hugged the walls as she continued to move through the school.

‘Oh come on Waverly…’ Nicole continued. ‘… don’t sit and sulk… I think people will be nicely surprised that you dated a woman… It will actually make you interesting.’ With another swing of the axe, another door was smashed in. It only took three swings before she was able to break through. This time it was not empty. In the corner, Perry, his parents and some others trembled in the corner. ‘Well hello appetisers…’ she smirked. She stepped forward to move towards them but an unexpected scream outside caught her attention. It was a death cry that had not come from a human. ‘Well that’s not right…’ forgetting the humans, Nicole marched out of the classroom and back out into the corridor.

 

Spilling out into the corridor, Nicole searched for her vampires but their numbers had suddenly dwindled. Storming around the corner she finally spotted one. ‘You!’ He spun round immediately. ‘Where are the others?’ He shrugged a little casually. Furious, Nicole marched up to him, grabbed him by the throat and shoved up against the wall. ‘That attitude is not going to lie with me…’ she squeezed causing him to gasp in pain Breath was not a problem but the strength of Nicole’s fingers was. ‘… now…’ she pressed her face only millimetres from his. ‘… where are the others?’

‘I don’t know,’ the vampire gasped a little flustered as his hands tried to ease her grip on him but it would not budge. ‘I was just standing guard… like you told me…’

A noise outside distracted Nicole. Both she and the other vampire looked down the hallway and out of the door to where a shadow moved quickly across the door and then out of sight. ‘You have got to be kidding me…’ Nicole seethed. She looked back at the vampire still in her clutches. ‘Find the others and start moving from room to room… find the slayer and the witch and bring them to me.’

‘What if there are no others?’ he croaked.

At this Nicole tightened her grip. ‘Then you’ll do it on your own you useless piece of dead meat…’ If she were alive, spit would have flown from her mouth and onto his face due to the venom in her words. ‘… and if you don’t deliver, I will throw you outside to meet whatever is seriously running my day!’ She threw him onto the floor and glared at him until he staggered to his feet and disappeared down the hall. Calming herself, Nicole lifted her shoulders, cricked her neck, dropped her shoulders then settled her eyes on each of the remaining doors she had not broken through. ‘Now… where are you?’ She waited and listened and heard the sound she feared - the smothered cry of a vampire melting into dust. ‘Well… that’s just sneaky…’

Slowly, Wynonna appeared from around the corner and stood in the middle of the hallway staring down at Nicole. Despite the considerable distance between them they could see every detail in the other’s eyes.

‘I’d like to say I found a flaw in your crappy plan,’ Wynonna mocked.

Nicole ignored this as she held the axe in front of her, ‘so… where is she?’

Wynonna tightened her grip around her stake, ‘you are not going anywhere near Waverly.’

‘She must miss me,’ Nicole sneered.

‘What is there to miss?’ Wynonna said unmoved. ‘Nicole is gone… replaced by this reprobate.’

‘Aw… with compliments like that, I’ll start to think you like me.’

The comment was ignored as Wynonna’s eyes pierced into the vampire’s, ‘did you know?’

‘Did I know what?’

Remembering that there were still people hiding in the classrooms all around them, Wynonna streamed forward so she didn’t have to shout. ‘Did you know that if you slept with Waverly you would lose your soul?’

Nicole licked her tongue over her teeth, ‘an answer would comfort her wouldn’t it?’ Wynonna tried to keep her face stoic and indifferent. This delighted Nicole as she could see beyond it. ‘I think I’ll pass on that question.’

‘Oh, I’m going to enjoy killing you.’

‘You sure you want to do that?’ Nicole scoffed. ‘I’m sure my precious Waves will be desperate for a way to save me.’

‘She’ll forgive me… eventually.’ Wynonna took a few more steps so that she could fully square up to the vampire. ‘I think she’d prefer you dead than tormenting her like this. It really sucks.’

A horrible cackle escaped Nicole’s lips, ‘… but it’s so much fun.’

Wynonna stared at her with pure disdain. ‘Doyle wasn’t wrong… you really are the worst of the worst…’ the moment the last word left her mouth, Wynonna lunged forward to attack. Acting quickly, Nicole blocked her and sent her tumbling down the hallway.

Calmly, with her long leather coat swishing around her, Nicole swirled as Wynonna clambered to her feet. ‘Oh come on slayer… it’s about time you and I had a proper tumble…’

‘We already did,’ Wynonna shot back dusting herself off. ‘I punched your face in.’

A little flustered, Nicole blinked it away, ‘yeah well… I’m looking forward to returning the sentiment.’ This time it was Nicole’s turn to lunge forward as she and slayer began to exchange blows. With quick sharp movements they blocked and ducked as their arms swiped and jabbed. Swift on her feet, Wynonna parried another attack then found a different angle allowing her to strike Nicole in the back of the head. With a grimace, Nicole tumbled forward.

‘Waverly!’ Wynonna screamed taking her moment. In the classroom, Waverly turned her head to the shout. ‘Get them out!’

There was no hesitation, ‘come on Gus… Alice… everyone, we have to go!’

Jumping to her feet, Nicole looked for her backup. ‘If there are any of you useless morons still in the building… make sure that nobody leaves!’ From one end, two vampires staggered into sight. ‘Nobody… leaves…’ Nicole repeated with intent. They nodded and began looking up and down the hallway to see if any doors were opening. She then returned her attention to the slayer. ‘Including you.’

‘I wasn’t planning on going anywhere,’ Wynonna agreed as they began exchanging blows again.

 

Holding onto Gus and Alice, Waverly carefully opened the door and peered around it to see if the coast was clear. Seeing only the back of the one vampire, she decided that they had no choice but to try. She motioned with her finger over her lips that they would all have to stay very quiet. Those from the corner of the room had also followed hoping that they would successfully escape. Hugging the wall, Waverly beckoned for them to follow her as silently as they could.

Down the hallway, nearer to where Nicole and Wynonna continued to take and give punches, Mercedes and her mother still cowered in the closet holding tightly onto one another. They had only heard mumbled talk but the blows that were being exchanged sounded out as though the fight was in the cupboard with them.

Outside, Nicole spun and threw her leg into the air in an attempt to connect with Wynonna’s face, but the slayer was quicker. Grabbing the vampire’s leg, Wynonna spun Nicole so she landed on the floor with a sickening thud. If it were any human they would have needed time to recover, but Nicole jumped instantly to her feet ready to fight again. What she was not prepared for was the kick that slammed into her chest sending her reeling back down the corridor. Shaking her head to regain her senses, Nicole began to get to her feet but another attack came. Using the back of her hand, clenched into a fist, Wynonna drove it into Nicole’s face so hard that it sent her flying through the air and one of the display cabinets. As glass shattered all around her, the vampire skidded past a corner to where another hallway met her. Looking up, the vampire’s eyes met Waverly’s as she, equally shocked, stood guard in front of those she was trying to lead to safety.

‘Well hello baby,’ Nicole grinned maliciously. ‘You look good…’

‘I wish I could say the same for you…’ Waverly replied, her voice shaking.

Furious, Gus pushed her way past Waverly, ‘you stay away from my daughter you hear me…’ there was no fear in her eyes, just pure hatred as she now protected her daughter. ‘… you piece of filth.’

Nicole stared at her stunned, ‘… wow… I think I dated the wrong Gibson…’ she looked Gus up and down flirtatiously. ‘This one’s got a lot more balls than you Waverly…’ she laughed horribly. ‘… though that wouldn’t be hard for anyone…’

‘Okay…’ an impact in the back of the head caused Nicole to fall to the floor. ‘… fun times over.’ As Nicole fell, Wynonna appeared behind her. She wasted no time grabbing Nicole by the collar and sliding her across the floor into the opposite wall. ‘You okay?’ she asked Waverly who looked shaken by the cruel words. Still, she managed a weak nod as she watched Nicole get to her feet. ‘Get these people out… okay…’ Somehow, Waverly tore her eyes away from Nicole as Wynonna continued their fight. She turned her attention to those that needed her and ushered them away down the corridor. As they went, Alice stood rooted to the spot as she watched her daughter pull off an expertly performed high kick to Nicole’s face.

Gus noticed her hesitate, ‘Alice…’ she urged. Alice however couldn’t move. ‘Alice!’

‘What is she….?’ Alice tried to say. ‘… How is she…?’ She looked at Gus bewildered. ‘What the hell is going on?’

‘Escape now…’ Gus said grabbing her hand. ‘… explanation later…’ Reluctantly, Alice allowed Gus to pull her away as Wynonna and Nicole continued their fight. The last thing she saw was Nicole dump Wynonna onto the floor before Wynonna sprang back up ready to deflect another punch.

 

The exit insight, Waverly quickened her pace and that of those behind her. They could see the moonlight lighting the trees just outside. Waverly reached her hand out ready to open the door. Her hand never reached it as the two remaining vampires stepped in their way. Their vampire faces in full form, they sniggered at the weak humans they saw before them.

‘Oh my god what are they?’ Alice gasped clinging onto Gus.

‘Nicole said no one is to escape,’ one said to Waverly. ‘… and…’ he grinned at his compatriot. ‘… she didn’t say they had to stay alive…’

‘No she did not,’ the other female vampire agreed. Despite her long blonde fringe, her distorted demonic face was perfectly visible and imposing. ‘… and I am hungry.’

‘Hungry?’ Alice repeated terrified. ‘There’s a café that way…’ trembling she pointed down the hall.

‘Trust me… that will not wet their appetite…’ Gus whispered.

‘Not even a little,’ the male vampire nodded. They stepped forward and began circling the frightened humans as they bunched together holding onto each other. Waverly knew in any other situation she could take one of them. But with no weapon and too many people counting on her, she was frozen.

The vampires continued to circle the humans, like hunters choosing their prey until the female’s eyes came to lie upon one of them, ‘… he looks delicious…’ he lurched forward and pulled out the young man who had helped Wynonna out of the window. Holding him by the neck she held him close and sniffed his skin. ‘… absolutely scrumptious…’

‘Waverly…’ Gus said under her breath. ‘Can’t you do something?’

‘I wish I could…’ Waverly replied. ‘But I have no weapon…’

Licking their lips, the two demons held the boy on each side as she scrunched up his face petrified. Revealing her horrendous teeth the girl widened her mouth and went into for the kill. But the teeth never reached its target. When only inches away, she exploded into dust. Mortified, the male whirled around only to meet the same fate.

Suddenly the corridor was alive with lights and people as soldiers streamed inside. Holding guns tightly to their shoulders, it became clear what had ended the two vampires. Holding his sore neck, the boy staggered back into his parents’ arms as they clung onto him gratefully. The soldiers went beyond the group for a moment, then seeing the coast was clear, one of them returned.

‘You alright?’

‘Are you the Initiative?’ Waverly asked quietly aware of who was around her.

‘Yes we are…’ he nodded. ‘We got a call from the slayer…’

‘Oh thank god you came…’ Waverly sighed. ‘There are people all over the school… you have to get them out. I don’t know how many vampires are here.’

‘No problem ma’am,’ he understood. ‘Right now, I need you evacuate the building.’

‘What about the vampires outside?’

‘All taken care of… please…’ he gestured to the door again. Waverly nodded and continued to lead the group where she had intended for them to go.

‘Okay men… move out… find any target and kill it!’ came his order as he and the other soldiers spread out and disappeared into the school. ‘Remember there are innocents; ensure their safety above anything else.’

As Waverly watched them, she realised she couldn’t leave. Whilst the others and Alice ran out of the building and were greeted by the soldiers gathered, Waverly stood stationary in the open doorway looking back down the corridor.

‘Waverly!’ Gus questioned returning to her. ‘What are you doing?’

Waverly looked back at her with heavy eyes, ‘Wynonna can’t be the one to kill her…’ she stayed her tears and found the stoic persona she needed. ‘I have to do it…’

‘You are not going back in there.’

‘I have to do this… I have to end it…’ Waverly said sternly. She began to slip away from Gus, but her guardian held onto her arm. ‘Please… it’s the only way I can move on…’

‘Wynonna might have already killed her…’ The words had no impact on Waverly. The young girl’s expression remained unchanged, focused and cold. From this, Gus could see that no persuasion would take Waverly from this path. Grudgingly, she let go of Waverly’s arm and could only watch Waverly disappear back into the building and the darkness.

 

The sound of splintering wood filled the air as Wynonna’s back crashed through the table. She had barely any time to deal with the pain surging through her body before she had to roll and turn out of the way of Nicole’s stamp. What was left of the table became pieces as the force of Nicole’s foot went through it. Coughing, Wynonna climbed to her feet and reacted just in time to duck a kick.

‘You’re looking weary slayer…’ Nicole commented.

‘Oh don’t you worry…’ she flipped back into the air so that she landed metres away on top of the classroom desk. ‘… I can go all night.’

‘You know who else can go all night?’ Nicole smirked. ‘Your little friend…’ Seething, Wynonna jumped down from the desk and ran at Nicole. She had no mind to how she would attack, but she could not bear to hear anymore unfeeling comments about her best friend. Due to this, Nicole easily deflected her into the whiteboard on the other side of the room. Wynonna hit it hard and collapsed to the floor. ‘Oh boy… did she give me a good time…’ she walked calmly round and stood over Wynonna as the slayer caught her breath. ‘… and my freedom…’ Blood dripped from a wound on Nicole’s face onto Wynonna’s as the vampire loomed over her. ‘… not bad for a first timer… wouldn’t you say?’ Wynonna tried to get up, but Nicole kicked her in the ribs then smashed her foot into the slayer’s face almost knocking her out. Turning away, Nicole spotted some broken glass lying on the floor. Wickedly, she picked a piece up and ran her finger over it to check its sharpness. At the end she nicked her finger but was only delighted at the result. ‘You know… of all the things I’ve done… killing a slayer is definitely missing from my list…’ she watched the blood from her cut drip down her finger. ‘This is going to be most pleasing…’

‘Not as much as this will be for me…’

Nicole spun to see Waverly standing in the doorway holding a piece of wood in her hand. Instead of pain in her eyes, there was only determination. She knew who she was looking at now.

‘Waverly…’ Wynonna cried from the floor. ‘No… get out of here!’

‘No…’ Waverly’s eyes did not leave Nicole. ‘… I have to do this…’

Grabbing hold of the desk, Wynonna began to pull her broken and bruised body up, ‘Waverly… she’ll kill you…’

Adjusting the stake in her hand, Waverly stared at Wynonna with mournful eyes as her brief shroud fell, ‘it feels like she already has…’ The slayer stared back seeing the anguish written all over Waverly’s face.

Slowly, Nicole licked the blood off her finger, ‘the witch and the slayer… all mine…’ she looked at Wynonna who could barely stand. ‘… and it was looking like this night would be a loss.’ Quickly, Waverly now recognised that not only her life was in danger. Glancing over at Wynonna, she saw that the slayer was badly injured and without Wynonna’s backup, she would never be able to take Nicole. ‘You’ll never get to her before I do…’ Nicole sneered. Pouncing, she moved to attack Waverly but the girl had other ideas. Lifting her hand, she muttered some words under her breath. To the vampire’s astonishment, red light exploded and sparked from Waverly’s palm sending Nicole sailing across the room and taking out multiple desks like skittles before she landed in a heap against the opposite wall.

Without hesitation, Waverly dropped her stake and rushed forward helping Wynonna to her feet. ‘Did you know you could do that?’ Wynonna asked as they began to stumble to the door.

‘Nope.’

‘Then how did you…?’ she gasped clinging onto Waverly.

‘I’m very pissed off.’

‘We are not done,’ came Nicole’s livid voice. Turning, the girls saw she had got to her feet and was storming across the room towards them. Then as numerous flashlights from heavy weapons lit her up she stopped dead in her tracks.

‘Oh I think we are,’ Wynonna shot at her.

As the soldiers took aim, Waverly felt herself take a breath. She wanted to be the one to do it or no one at all. But Nicole was quicker. In a blur, she spun and launched herself out of the closest window as the gun fire rained down around her. With Nicole’s body smashing through it and the dozens of bullets splitting it to pieces the window disintegrated into an explosion of shattered glass and wood. When the gun fire died down, the soldiers and girls stared into an empty room which was silent and still. Waverly hated to admit it, but she was relieved when she saw there was no pile of dust on the floor beneath the window.

 

Awkwardly, the two staggered out of the school towards the loved ones waiting. With her arm around Waverly’s neck for support, Wynonna held her side as it throbbed. Nicole had really managed to do a number on her back in the classroom. There were smiles and relieved gasps as Gus and Alice saw them.

‘Oh my god…’ Gus cried taking Waverly into her arms. Alice did the same with Wynonna but carefully, seeing that she was injured. Gus held Waverly close. ‘Did you get her?’

‘No,’ Waverly replied shaking her head as she pulled away. ‘Wynonna was hurt so I…’ she looked at her friend. ‘… I didn’t have a chance to…’ her words were fading like her resolve.

Seeing this, Gus place a hand on Waverly’s cheek lovingly, ‘this isn’t a battle we have to fight right now…’ she embraced Waverly again. ‘… first you need time to heal…’ Waverly closed her eyes and melted into her guardian’s comforting arms.

A few metres away, the conversation was less compassionate, ‘what the hell were you doing?’ Alice demanded. Wynonna stood a mess in front of her. Her face was beaten and blooded as she held onto her side stinging horribly from numerous broken ribs. ‘I mean fighting? When did you… how did you…?’ she trailed off trying to think. ‘Start explaining yourself young lady!’

Wynonna stared at her mother trying desperately to think of an escape, but the more her mind searched the more she realised there wasn’t one. The one thing she did know was that she was not going to reveal her biggest secret in the presence of most of the school. ‘Not now mum…’

‘No… no, you start… right now because…’

‘Mum!’ Wynonna snapped. ‘Please…’

Alice fixed her eyes on her daughter and saw the desperation in her eyes. Her shoulders fell as she forced herself to stand down, ‘… when we get home then…’ she pointed at her daughter with meaning. She turned to start towards the car and Wynonna was about to follow until she spotted Perry pushing himself through the crowd towards them.

‘Waverly!’ he cried angrily.

‘No…’ Wynonna muttered. She placed her body in his path. ‘You are not doing this now.’

‘Get out of my way Wynonna,’ his teeth were gritted in determination.

‘Don’t you think she’s been through enough?’

‘She’s been through enough?’ Perry scoffed. He looked over to where Waverly had registered his presence. ‘She has humiliated me!’

Infuriated, Wynonna rolled her eyes, ‘what is it about boys that they have to make everything about themselves? This was never about you Perry.’ Behind them, Waverly tried to disappear into Gus’ shoulder as the older woman took her in. The conversation had caught the attention of all those around them. Something which had not escaped Wynonna’s notice. ‘Waverly fell in love Perry. It was nothing to do with you. And the person she fell in love with happened to be a woman. So what? It’s a problem because it doesn’t fill this school’s expectations? Doesn’t fit because it’s not what she’s supposed to do? Do you know what real bravery is Perry?’ She looked at him for a response, he gave none. ‘It’s what she has done. She’s being herself… instead of a sheep like you. Like a lot of you!’ Around them, a few heads dipped. ‘You’re supposed to own the school, you and Mercedes… were you in there fighting for our lives back there? No, you were cowering in the corners of classrooms… but do you know what Waverly did? She came back in to save me… I might not be here if it wasn’t for her.’ Perry looked at Waverly, realising it was the truth. ‘She might be breaking your ridiculous social rules… but she is a far better and braver person than you will ever be Perry…’ she continued to address the crowd. ‘… and I dare anyone who goes to this school to give her hard time… anyone… because if you do, you’ll have to deal with me.’ Perry could feel the full weight of Wynonna’s stare as her eyes bore into him. ‘Waverly Gibson is a better person that a lot of you…’ she looked at her friend. ‘… maybe even me.’ She smiled at Waverly then turned back to Perry. The words were clearly sinking in.

Around them a clap began to ripple through those gathered. Barely an applause at first, but then slowly as the students and parents began to put their hands together it rose into cheering and full recognition of Wynonna’s words. Slowly, Waverly broke out of Gus’ arms and moved to her friend. Placing a hand on Wynonna’s shoulder, she caused the slayer to turn before they fell into each other’s arms. Wynonna ignored the pain searing through her side to take her best friend in for the embrace she knew Waverly needed. Awkwardly, Perry backed away and melted into the darkness left with only his own thoughts.

As they pulled away, Wynonna wiped away a tear trickling down Waverly’s cheek, ‘thank you.’ Around them, the crowd began to disperse.

‘It’s time these arseholes heard it straight.’

‘I’m sorry…’ came Alice’s voice as she joined them.

‘For what mum?’ Wynonna frowned.

‘… for not seeing the woman you are growing up into,’ she replied. ‘The way you just stood up for your friend there, in front of everybody…’ she sighed as a smile appeared on her face. ‘… made me so proud.’ Licking her thumb, she tried to rub away some of the blood on Wynonna’s forehead. ‘… I can’t pretend to like what I saw tonight, but if this was any indication of the good that is in your heart… then I don’t have as much to worry about as I thought…’ Having cleared some of the blood away, Alice stepped forward and kissing her daughter on her forehead. ‘… I think we need to go home and clean you up.’

‘Agreed,’ added Gus as she joined them. ‘I think we can both be proud of our girls Alice. And maybe just for tonight, we don’t need to ask too many questions but just enjoy that we are alive… and these girls are the reason for that.’

Alice looked at her daughter again, ‘I think that’s very reasonable.’ With an understanding nod, she placed her arm around Wynonna’s waist and helped her across the grass towards the car. Waverly watched her go for a few moments before looking back at the school. That night, everything had changed. Her pain wasn’t her secret anymore. It was shared with entire school. The one thing the revelation had helped, was how easy it would be to kill Nicole. The thought still filled her with dread and pain, but this was easing with every cruel deed the vampire exacted on her.

 

As the shocked and traumatised crowd slowly dissipated into the night and the sirens and emergency lights disappeared the brutally beaten school fell into silence. Still dark, some covered in debris, the corridors could finally sleep soundly without being pounded by the feet of the soulless beasts who came bring torment. Each classroom had been emptied of its occupants and the Initiative had ensured no vampires still lurked in the darkness. They had however forgotten to check the closets. Still perched on their buckets, Mercedes and her mother continued to hold each other tight wondering if the silence meant safety or the school’s attackers were laying a trap. Too scared to move and with no cell service, it was going to be a long night for the pair.

 

 


	19. Lie to me - Part 1

 

Hugging her folder tightly to her chest, Waverly’s eyes flitted from side to side as she made her way through the school. It was only inaudible mutterings that reached her ears, but she knew very well that she was the subject of their unsubtle chatter. As she continued on, the burning in the pit of her stomach grew stronger slowly turning into the urge to turn and run out of the school. After a few more steps, the ache was so unbearable she gave in and spun round, only to come face to face with Mercedes.

‘Leaving so soon?’ Mercedes sneered. ‘That’s a shame when this was going to be so much fun…’ As if it were a shield, Waverly clung onto her folder as she looked up into the cruel eyes of the speaker and her followers. ‘So… how long have you been a lesbian? One year? Two years?… the whole time you were dating poor Perry?’ Her face turned nasty. ‘Oh god… did you feel like this all those times we were getting changed for cheerleading practice?’ She looked at the girls around her who showed the same disgusted expression on their faces. Some clearly to ensure they remained onside with Mercedes. ‘Oh Waverly… that’s so wrong you pervert…’

‘What’s going on here?’ Waverly was relieved to see the arrival of Dawn. The counsellor instantly noticed her discomfort. ‘Waverly? Are you alright?’

Shrinking back, Waverly simply wanted to remove herself from the situation as quickly as possible, ‘yes… I’m fine…’

‘I can see very well that you’re not…’ Dawn turned to Mercedes whose cruel persona had changed unnervingly to innocent. ‘Girls?’

‘We were just checking she was okay after the Parent Teacher night,’ she lied smoothly. ‘Clearly she’s still completely traumatised.’

Dawn however was unconvinced and examined them through steely eyes, ‘is that how it was Waverly?’

Waverly looked between Dawn and Mercedes. She was trapped. ‘I… I have to go…’ She pushed through the gang knowing they would do nothing with a member of staff present and hurried towards the exit. Dawn, Mercedes, Chrissy and the others watched her go. Once she had gone, the girls turned back to face the counsellor wearing the same disturbingly angelic smiles.

‘You might have the rest of the school fooled girls…’ Dawn said coldly. ‘But not me… you leave her alone.’ She pointed her finger meaningfully at all of them before returning down the hall to her office.

‘Stupid bitch,’ Mercedes spat. ‘Doesn’t she know who I am?’

‘No…’ Chrissy smirked. ‘But maybe your father should know who she is?’ Savouring the delectable idea, Mercedes’ mouth curled up into a malicious smile.

 

His eyebrows lifted as he opened the door. Dolls suspected that Wynonna might never visit him again. Yet, there she was, standing in front of him.

‘Hi…’

‘Hi…’ he couldn’t hide his surprise.

They exchanged an awkward glance before Wynonna craned her neck to look past him, ‘you not going to let me in then?’ A little flustered he stepped aside. Wynonna looked around impressed to see that his apartment was no longer the burnt out wreck he had left it in. Instead, a new lick of paint had been added and all his furniture replaced. ‘This is good…’

‘Had to keep busy.’

‘Of course…’ Slightly uncomfortably, she walked over to the new leather sofa and took a seat. She kept her legs together stiffly, held onto her knees and perched on the edge.

Dolls noticed her uneasiness. ‘I’m okay…’ he told her remaining standing. ‘It’s under control…’

‘I can see that… now…’ she avoided his eyes. ‘… but you said that before.’

Slowly Dolls nodded, understanding. ‘It’s stronger…’ Wynonna looked up. ‘The stuff they have me on…’

‘They’re giving you medication?’ Wynonna laughed surprised. ‘Don’t they want you dead?’

‘Lucado does. But Allenbach, he’s coming through.’

‘They’re sneaking medication out for you?’ She was checking she’d heard it correctly.

‘And they’re making it in the labs,’ Dolls finished allowing himself to sit down at the other end of the sofa from Wynonna. ‘Unknown to Lucado.’

‘We’ve really rocked the boat haven’t we?’ Wynonna said a little proud.

Dolls enjoyed this. ‘We certainly have.’ He gazed at her. As the light shone in through the window, it lit up her fair features. ‘How are you?’

Hearing the kindness in his voice, Wynonna glanced at him feeling on edge. She could not tell him about Doc. ‘I’m fine… things are hard… but hey, that’s what being the slayer is all about. It’s happy hour vampire style every day.’

Dolls watched her. He knew this façade. ‘Maybe, someday soon, I can get out there with you again?’ His eyes drifted over his flat. ‘Going a bit stir crazy being cooped up in this place.’

‘That would be nice,’ Wynonna nodded. As her night with Doc played over in her mind, she rose to her feet overwhelmed with the need to leave. ‘I should go… I have a lot of homework to do.’

Another façade. ‘Since when did you do homework?’ he chuckled knowingly. Wynonna stopped at the door but didn’t turn. Doc got to his feet behind her. ‘It’s okay if you need time…’

‘I just have…’ her breath was caught in her chest. ‘… a lot on right now.’

‘I’d expect nothing less of the slayer.’

His voice and eyes were caring. Wynonna felt old feelings stirring again. ‘Lucky me.’ A half smile escaped her lips before she pulled the door open and was gone. The door click closed behind her and Dolls was left alone in his apartment again. He glanced down at his hand which had begun to shake. A symptom, at least it usually was. However now, Dolls didn’t know if the demon or Wynonna was the cause.

 

‘In our time, it would have been improper for a lady to drink alone.’

Rosita looked up as Doc slid into the seat beside her at the bar. ‘Well… nothing about me is proper… anymore,’ she stated sadly taking a gulp of her drink.

‘This is true,’ he agreed. Taking off his hat, Doc motioned to the barman to bring two more. His eyes studied Rosita up and down, trying to determine her mood. After all, she could kill him in a heartbeat if she wanted to. ‘How are you?’

Rosita stared into the glass in her hands, ‘well let me see, I’ve left the monsters that have been keeping me safe for many years to join a band of the saddest miscreants I’ve ever known to start saving the world. Yet, I will never be part of that band because I am also a monster. So here I am, stuck between two worlds with no friends and absolutely nothing going for me.’ She chugged back the last of the whiskey. ‘Good thing I don’t care right… because otherwise, this would really suck.’

‘Vampires still have the ability to feel,’ Doc commented gently.

‘No we don’t… I don’t give a crap about any of this really,’ Rosita scoffed.

Doc continued to study her carefully, ‘then why this?’ he gestured to her glass.

Rosita let go of the glass and put her hands on the bar, gripping onto the edge uncomfortably, ‘… I think you know the answer to that… you’ve always been an intelligent man.’ She looked at him forlornly. In a way a vampire shouldn’t be able to. ‘I love you… there’s something inside of me still holding onto that.’

‘Some humanity?’ Doc asked.

‘Oh don’t make me sick.’ At that opportune moment their new drinks arrived. Rosita quickly took a large gulp of hers.

‘It’s causing conflict in you,’ Doc deduced as he turned his glass around in his hand. ‘At base, you are evil, but love is real… it’s human.’ Rosita didn’t look at him. If he didn’t know better, she was trying not to cry. ‘Do you want to kill me?’

‘What?’ she was stunned by the question.

‘If this pains you so much… the demon in you must want to kill me,’ he watched Rosita turn over the idea. He could see there was some truth in it. ‘Which one is stronger? The vampire’s desire to kill me or the human… yearning to love me?’

The confusion was evidently painful. ‘I… I…’ she couldn’t find the answer.

Drinking down his entire portion of whiskey, Doc knew there was only one way to find out. He closed his eyes. ‘Wynonna and I lay together.’ The sound of glass splintering cut through the air. Doc’s eyes shot to Rosita’s hand where she had crushed her glass into pieces.

He reached forward to see if she was unharmed, ‘don’t touch me.’ She growled her hand still clenched. Doc retracted his hands hastily. Without another word, Rosita flew off her seat and out of the bar’s doors. Taking a deep breath, Doc retrieved his hat and followed her ignoring the many eyes that had pinned themselves on the pair.

‘Rosita!’ he called after her as she began to disappear into the shadows.

‘Don’t follow me,’ she seethed through gritted teeth. Her eyes were fixed, holding onto herself.

Doc disregarded her pleas. ‘Rosita, I said it only to aid your conflict… so pray tell me… how do you feel?’

‘How do I feel?’ she asked amazed spinning round. ‘Doc… I don’t feel.’

‘All vampires feel.’

‘Well then… since you’re such an expert, how about you tell me?’ From the fury in her eyes Doc knew it would be wiser to remain silent. ‘… I’ll tell you…’ she marched up to him. ‘I’m questioning why I ever aligned myself with your side, only to be trampled on again. That’s all life does to me… take me from one depraved place to the next.’ She stared into his eyes the fury raging. ‘I fell in love with a dying man… and since then my ill-fated meaningless existence has never really recovered.’ She reached up and placed her hand over his heart relishing painfully the feel of it beating. ‘And now I’ve found you after all these years… you’re no longer dying… but I can’t love enough… for you to want me.’ She took her hand away as if it had been burned. Doc could only watch as she spun away and tore off into the night.

 

The laughter and smiles burned her ears. The group had not brought her what she needed that night. Tugging on her coat, Waverly waved a quick goodbye to the group but didn’t care that some didn’t see. The lead Wicca watched her leave, she’d noticed the forlorn distant look Waverly had worn for most of that evening. She had not felt as much energy flow from Waverly’s side of the circle whereas in the previous meetings, how it was strengthening rapidly had come to her notice.

Outside, as Waverly moved to her car, a figure moved in the shadows. It was a familiar feeling but one that now turned Waverly cold instead of the warmth she used to adore.

‘Why don’t you just kill me?’ Waverly sighed. Her hand on her car door she did not look round.

Nicole emerged from the dark. ‘Because that would be too easy.’ She stayed back, her stance strong and her lips curled.

‘So you’re just going to what?’ She glanced sideways but did not want to look round fully. ‘Follow and torment me until you decide how to hurt me the most?’

‘That’s pretty much it… you were always the clever one…’ The vampire’s eyes drifted to the girls and women filtering out of the church. ‘And if this group is bringing you solace… maybe the best torment would be to eliminate them... one by one…’

Waverly also looked back at her Wiccan friends as they filed into cars unaware of Waverly’s position. ‘They would be able to rebuff you. You’d probably come off worse.’

A low snarling laugh rumbled at the back of Nicole’s throat, ‘oh my dear Waverly… that’s a bold claim.’

Enraged, Waverly spun to stare Nicole in the face, ‘then just try it.’ Her steely eyes penetrated into Nicole’s. ‘I would love to watch.’

Nicole almost looked impressed. ‘My my…’ she moved sideways, beginning a slow orbit around Waverly and her car ensuring that she kept her distance. Her long leather coat floated around her calves. ‘… your anger is a causing a fire inside you that is most pleasing. But… emotions can easily betray.’

‘I’d much rather feel than be a cold shell like you,’ Waverly spat. It was a lie, for the past few days, Waverly had wished she could anything but feel. With every step Nicole took, Waverly’s eyes followed, not leaving the vampire for a second.

Nicole stopped and smirked maliciously, ‘trust me… when I’m done, you’ll beg not to feel at all.’

Despite the struggle, Waverly kept her tears pinned back. It was still hard to fathom that the creature standing before her used to be someone so gentle and loving – someone who Waverly trusted more than anyone else. Now, there was no telling what cruel deed the vampire would inflict next. ‘I’ll never beg…’ Waverly forced out through her teeth. ‘… not for you, not ever.’

For a moment, Nicole’s face did not move as if she was defeated. However, slowly, the curled lip returned and her eyes moved sideways to catch a glimpse at the last witch leaving the church. Alone, the young blonde haired woman cradled her basket of ingredients as she locked the door behind her. Waverly watched as she read Nicole’s mind.

Darting forward, Nicole tore across the courtyard her feet pounding into the gravel. A gasp exhaled from Waverly’s lips as she dropped her book and sped after her. Nicole was quicker. Soon, she had the witch in her arms and held her firmly in victory. Waverly stopped dead knowing that the hand around the young woman’s neck could snap it in an instant.

‘Beg…’ Nicole sneered. In her arms, the witch’s chest heaved in terror as she looked to Waverly for help. Waverly was frozen. ‘Beg for her life Waverly…’ It was as if someone had stolen her voice and thoughts as Waverly couldn’t find a coherent reaction to Nicole’s taunts. ‘You will beg Waverly… I promise you… I will make you beg.’ She tightened her grip around the woman’s neck causing her to cry out desperately. She tried to struggle but Nicole was simply too strong.

Like embers sparking, Waverly could feel it in her stomach. It coursed through her abdomen and up into her chest. This wasn’t magic, it was pure emotion. Using her arteries, it spurred away from her heart, down her arms her to her hands until her palms were burning. Yet, it was not pain that the young brunette was feeling… it was power. Fuelled by strength surging within her, Waverly looked up and met Nicole’s eyes. Her hands shot out in front of her and without a word, Waverly sent beams of red light past Nicole’s captive into the vampire’s chest. With a stunned cry, Nicole instantaneously dropped the girl and stumbled back in agony. Unrelenting, as Nicole tried to recover, Waverly marched forward hitting her again. Nicole could only stagger a few more steps before she crumpled to the floor. Had it not been for her power’s waning, Waverly would have delivered another blow. Instead, she stood only meters from her foe as she watched her groan and writhe on the grass. The light turned in red flickering ball in her palm.

‘I will never beg,’ she breathed out. She glared at Nicole as she caught her breath. Weakened by the magic, she knew she was vulnerable. As she dropped her hand, the ball of light vanished. She cast her eyes on the defeated vampire one more time before making her way back to her friend.

The young witch was still lying on the ground trying to understand what she had just seen. ‘What the hell was that?’ she asked as Waverly helped her to her feet.

‘A vampire… the worst.’

They began to walk back to the car but the other witch stopped their stride. ‘No Waverly…’ she corrected. ‘I mean, what was that from you?’

Waverly looked down at her hands. Her palms were red as if burnt but she felt no discomfort. ‘I have no idea…’ Their eyes met in equal question but this was stayed by the sound of Nicole getting to her feet. Waverly tugged the other witch’s arm to pull her towards the jeep, ‘come on… we have to get out of here.’

 

The trees flashed past as Waverly kept her eyes fixed on the road ahead. Beside her, the witch’s eyes flitted between the winding concrete snake and the girl next to her.

‘Say it…’

The witch eyelids flickered, ‘say what?’

Waverly did not turn her head as she spoke. ‘Whatever it is that you’re thinking… just say it.’

Caught off guard, the witch shifted her weight. They’d never properly spoken until that night. ‘I just um… thinking that…’ her mouth dry, she licked her lips nervously. ‘… that was some power. It must have been fuelled by great anger.’

Waverly laughed but was not amused, ‘anger is only the start of what I’m feeling…’ this was shown in the whitening of her knuckles as she gripped the wheel.

‘Well… just warn me if it’s going to happen again…’ the witch said putting her hands up uneasily.

‘As long as she stays away from me.’

‘You knew her?’

Staring at the road, Waverly swore she saw the form of Nicole’s face in the trees. Unvampiric, it was the angelic expression that pulled at Waverly’s heart. It caused a tear to trickle down her cheek. Quickly, she wiped it away. ‘The woman I knew doesn’t exist anymore… only a demon does now.’

‘Were you friends?’

Waverly couldn’t be irritated by the questions. From the tone of the witch’s voice she could tell they were gentle and came from a place of kind-heartedness. Strangely, they were making her feel safe. ‘I loved her.’

With this one statement, there were now so many more questions but the witch could sense that now was not the time to ask. Instead, she placed a soft hand on Waverly’s arm. ‘I’m sorry.’

Waverly glanced down at the hand on her arm then back at the road, ‘thank you.’

Slowly, the witch retracted her hand and was suddenly caught on a thought. ‘Did you invite her in when you were… when you and her…’

‘Yes,’ Waverly nodded.

‘She’s going to be pretty pissed after tonight,’ the witch went on. She began rummaging in her bag which lay at her feet. Waverly slowed the speed of the car down wondering her new friend’s meaning. It seemed like an age, but finally the witch straightened holding a small purple book. She opened it to the contents and after scanning the contents she turned proficiently to the page she wanted. Too distracted, Waverly pulled her jeep over to the side of the road allowing the two women to turn to face one another. ‘An uninviting spell,’ she held up the book for Waverly to see. ‘You must do this, to protect yourself.’

‘I never thought of this,’ Waverly took the book and studied the spell upon its pages.

‘I’ve done the spell before…’ the witch told her. ‘It’s pretty easy and with your talents… it’ll be no problem.’

‘Thank you,’ Waverly breathed out internally berating herself for not thinking of it before. ‘Can I borrow this?’

‘Of course.’ She watched as Waverly remembered the page before closing the book and placing it down in her lap. ‘And it’s Tara.’

‘What is?’

‘My name,’ the witch chuckled lightly. ‘My name is Tara.’

Waverly closed her eyes a little embarrassed, ‘I’m so sorry…’

‘It’s okay… clearly you have a lot going on right now.’

‘Mine’s…’

‘Waverly…’ Tara smiled. ‘I know.’ A little shyly she gazed up at Waverly. ‘I make it my business to know the names of people I might like…’

A little flustered, Waverly found herself staring back for a moment before the different pair of eyes became one again the only thought in her mind. Breaking away, she fumbled with the keys to restart the car. ‘I better get you home…’

‘Of course… dangerous women out there.’ Despite her joke, it was clear Tara was embarrassed. Waverly wished she could bring her some comfort, but her thoughts were only on the task she had to undertake. With Nicole free to enter her home any time she wanted both Waverly and Gus were in great danger. As silence fell over the jeep, Waverly pulled it away from the verge and onwards into the night.

 

‘Thank you for asking me out tonight… I’d definitely been cooped up in that apartment too long.’

Wynonna met his eyes demurely, ‘… well, I didn’t really ask you… out…’ she started.

‘Yeah I know… I meant, literally… out… outside.’

They looked at each other both a little embarrassed and decided in an agreement of laughter they would swiftly move on. ‘I thought it would be good for you to… y’know, punch things.’

‘I do enjoy punching things,’ Dolls agreed as they continued to move through the trees.

‘It is very satisfying,’ Wynonna nodded. ‘Especially if those things growl.’

‘Lots of things growl,’ Dolls pointed out. ‘I can growl…’

Wynonna pondered the statement. ‘No, you definitely have more of a roar…’

‘Do I?’ he looked pleasantly surprised. ‘That’s good… that’s manly.’

‘I think defining it as manly by the person who wants to be said thing… kinda undermines it a little…’ Wynonna teased. ‘However, you do have cred for being a certain something else… which definitely makes you a lot more manly than a lot of men I know.’

‘What extensively muscly and handsome?’ Dolls remarked.

‘Considering most of the men I know are either Nedley or boys from school… you might just have that one.’ Gazing up, she met his eyes. This was the first flirtatious exchange they had enjoyed in a long time and they were both thoroughly enjoying it. It did however fill Wynonna with an uncomfortable sense of foreboding déjà vu. ‘Come on… let’s find those things to punch.’ She squeezed past him to get between two trees. Dolls eyes followed her as she did so, his heart pounding at her close proximity. He wanted to reach out and touch her, like he had done in his thoughts countless times. But he knew the situation was delicate and he would bide his time until Wynonna made the move to show that she was ready.

 

Kneeling, Waverly raised her hands up to the open front door. In front of her, simple Wiccan star had been drawn on the floor with a few materials lying with in it. She looked down at the book lying open by her knees and began to chant the words it instructed. There was nothing at first, but gradually she felt a tingling move through her body, down her arms and to the tips of her fingers. Opening her eyes, Waverly could see the invisible barrier reforming in the door. Beyond it, the house opposite flickered and blurred as the protective veil returned. There was one last glimmer before it fizzed and disappeared. Waverly lowered her hands and knew that the spell was done.

‘Try and get to us now…’ she whispered beginning to get to her feet but she paused when something caught her eye. With the door still ajar, a light breeze had come in and flicked over some of the pages of the book. Waverly gazed down and read the words ‘To forget all woes.’ Intrigued, she picked the book up and read on. The more she read, the more she liked.

 

‘Look what she did!’ Nicole cried gesturing to the burnt remnants of her black top and leather jacket. The spell Waverly had cast on her had left more sting than the witch had realised. Standing before Willa, who was now sitting up in her bed, Nicole pulled off the jacket and threw it on the floor. ‘I loved that jacket.’

‘That wasn’t even your jacket,’ Willa sniggered. ‘You stole that off a meal you had last week.’

‘Still…’ Nicole sulked. ‘I loved it.’

‘She still gets to you doesn’t she?’ Willa observed as Nicole’s jaw remained tense and clenched.

Nicole’s eyes shot to her with real venom, ‘only because she still breathes.’ She looked down at her tattered top and also removed it discarding it onto the floor with the jacket. Her newly revealed stomach showed numerous burn injuries but the vampire was too angry to register the pain. Some clothes hung from a rail in the corner of the cave. She walked over and began to look through them.

‘I sense that it’s more than that…’ Willa continued. ‘The beasty in you…’ a childish giggle escaped her lips. ‘… is possessed by her. She writhes inside your mind.’

Selecting a plain white top, Nicole pulled it on, ‘of course she writhes in my mind,’ she sneered irritated. ‘She’s everywhere… all the time.’

‘Is she so powerful? She’s only a girl…’

Finding another leather jacket, Nicole added it to her outfit. ‘… a girl who has learnt some handy tricks.’

‘You need to stop playing games with the little witch…’ Willa went on picking up one of her dolls. Her eyes followed it as she passed it across her body and started to stroke its long brown hair. ‘… it’s time to break every one of her bones… one by one… and hear them snap.’ She took one of the dolls arms and contorted it nastily. ‘Then… just before you’ve drained her off her blood and her life… you snap her little neck… and she won’t bother you anymore.’

Nicole revelled in every word as her eyes filled with bloodlust, ‘oh Willa… I do love how your twisted mind works.’

‘You will save me a drop?’ Willa called after Nicole as she went to leave.

Nicole returned, ‘sorry Wil… she is all mine.’ With steely determination, she disappeared out of the cave, leaving the still weakened Willa alone with her dolls and her imagination to think about what it would be like to be able to kill again.

 

Placing the book down on the floor, Waverly pulled open her wooden chest and rummaged inside. One by one, she pulled out the elements that would allow her to carry out the spell. Upon finding the last one, she realised that it would be possible.

She leant on the edge of the chest with her arms as she cradled the last herb in her hands. ‘Do I really want to forget you?’ Just like in the trees, she could see Nicole in the leaves of the plant. ‘Do I want to forget how you made me feel? How loved… how… happy…’ Her head dropped as she remembered and it only hurt. When she looked up, her eyes were streaming. ‘I have to… because it hurts… too… much.’ Her eyes glanced outside through the window where she had greeted Nicole so many times. ‘I just have to.’

With new intent, Waverly grabbed the book and the ingredients and began to arrange them in front of her. It was as if someone else was driving her body, her movements almost robotic and calm. In the middle of four candles, Waverly placed a small granite pot. Into it she ground three of the components and mixed them together. After adding the fourth, the mixture started to smoke filling the room with a pink mist. After adding the fifth and final ingredient, Waverly knew it was now down to her. She sat back crossed legged close to the spitting and sparking pot and began to chant the words she had already memorised from the book. They were short and simple and with the meaning they carried she was instilled by the need for this to succeed. It wasn’t long before she felt their effect.

‘Oh wowzers…’ she looked down at her palms and they were glowing again. This time instead of red they were a deep pink and cold. Suddenly, the colour was reflected in Waverly’s eyes and she felt the magic surge through her. As if pulled up by strings, her entire body rose off the ground until she was levitating a few inches above the carpet, her arms rigid by her sides. Completely controlled by the spell, Waverly chanted the words again, this time her voice deep and angry. Every muscle in her body was tensed and aching but she felt compelled to the repeat the words over and over again. The pink mist from the pot whirled around her and seemed to be spiralling up into a tornado within the room until abruptly the spell ended and Waverly fell to the floor. She hit the carpet with a thud, eyes closed. Peace fell over the room, the pot sparking no more, as the young witch slept soundly.

 

Blissfully unaware, as she continued to sleep soundly on her floor, Waverly did not see the pot begin to spark and smoke once again. Noiselessly, the pink mist rose and billowed, filling the small room. Soon there was too much and not enough room so it found the first escape it could, the open window. Like hands reaching out, it swam to the window and floated out into the night sky. Once outside, its freedom was achieved and it made use of it. Spreading out, it began to make its way to the far reaches of the town. Soundless and deadly, it filtered into every home, every bar, every shop and every vehicle it could find until every human and creature was asleep. Its job done, the mist disappeared leaving the town silent in slumber.

 

Wynonna crinkled her nose as the light rain drops fell on her nose. Coming round, she could feel that she was cold. Gradually opening her eyes, blades of grass stuck up towards them. Startled, she sat up quickly and saw that she was in the forest.

‘Um… okay?’ It was day but the overcast weather made it grey and gloomy. She peered around in front of her trying to work out where she was. Then her glances made their way behind her and her eyes fell upon the man lying beside her. The slayer frowned as she studied him. She put her hand to her head. ‘Was I drinking last night?’ Not feeling any of the effects of a hangover she concluded she was not so returned her focus to the man still lying peacefully. Apprehensively, she poked his arm with a single finger. With no reaction, it had been too light so she poked him again.

At this Dolls’ eyes popped open, ‘what the…?’ Instantly, he scrambled away. ‘Who are you?’ His stance became quickly defensive.

‘My question exactly… who are you?’ Wynonna shot back.

Dolls’ eyes flitted around their surroundings before he jumped up on guard, ‘where am I?’ He completed a circle on the spot, his hands up in front of him. ‘Is this some kind of drill?’

‘Drill?’ Wynonna asked also getting to her feet. ‘Are you some kind of army man?’

He intended to answer, but stopped. ‘I don’t know…’ his brow creased in confusion as he thought. ‘I don’t know who I am…’

Wynonna began to laugh, ‘how can you not know who you are?’

‘I don’t know,’ he knew it was strange. He put his hands down and tried to think again, but there was nothing. ‘Do you know who you are?’

‘Of course I do,’ Wynonna began confidently. ‘I’m…’ like Dolls she stopped. A little fear appeared on her face. ‘Oh my god… I don’t know either…’

‘Not even your name?’

‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘Nothing.’

‘That’s not right…’

 

His eye lids fluttered as Doc picked himself up off the floor. The floor boards were hard; his body painfully felt the effects of having been sleep on them. With a groan he pulled himself up and looked around. Beside him, a whiskey bottle lay half drunk. He picked up and looked at it confused before placing it back down. ‘This stuff is stronger than I thought.’ Unsteadily, he got to his feet and had no idea where he was. ‘What in God’s name is this hell hole?’ he asked himself as he looked around the rundown house.

‘Hello?’ the female voice was weak and timid. ‘Is someone there?’

Following the direction it was coming from, Doc cautiously made his way past the front door into the room which would have been the kitchen. Standing in the middle of the room, Rosita looked at him scared and unsettled. ‘My my…’ Doc commented taking in her beauty. ‘Who might you be?’

Rosita’s expression the same as the one worn by Wynonna and Dolls, ‘I have no idea…’ she glanced around her. ‘Where am I?’

‘That I cannot answer,’ Dolls told her as he did the same. ‘For I do not know who I am either.’

‘How can we not know who we are?’ Rosita asked.

‘It is indeed most irregular,’ Doc agreed. ‘Have you no clues upon you?’

They both began to search their pockets but as a man from the 19th century and a vampire, neither had anything that could tell them who they were. ‘Nothing,’ Rosita sighed. She looked at him, his kind eyes and bushy moustache and found that she felt strangely warm. ‘But something tells me I know you.’

‘A feeling I share,’ Doc smiled moving towards her. ‘A comforting familiarity.’

‘Your eyes…’ she stared deep into them. ‘The kindness… it stirs something inside me.’

Doc let the welcoming words flow over him. ‘A sentiment I feel too.’ He stepped closer. ‘Could it be that we are…’ he paused, searching for the right word. ‘Involved?’

A smile spread over Rosita’s soft lips. ‘We are in the same house…’ she looked up. ‘If that’s what you can call this place.’

Doc did the same as their eyes traced the crumbling beams and the frail structure of the roof. Just enough of it remained to keep out the rain or snow. ‘Do you think anyone else has befallen this unfortunate situation?’

 

Lifting her head, Waverly felt it pound. She brought her hand to her head as she took in her surroundings. The four candles positioned in a square had long gone out. The pot was no longer steaming or sparking. Apart from the light in the hall seeping through the gap under her bedroom door, the room was dark. Sitting up, Waverly came to one conclusion, ‘huh?’

Moving into the hallway, Waverly pulled her woollen jumper around her as she felt the cold from outside. Her hand lightly followed the banister as she made her way downstairs. She looked back up the hallway but saw that every other room was as dark as the one she had just left. Nothing was recognisable to her.

‘Hello?’ She waited but there was no answer. Then something in front of her caught her attention. Reaching up, she pulled the photo carefully off the wall. It was of herself and Gus, but she had absolutely no recollection of the two people staring back her. ‘Who are you?’ She put the photo back. ‘Who am I?’ She searched her thoughts but there was nothing, it was completely blank. At that moment, a noise outside distracted her from her confusion. Cautiously, she opened the front door and saw that no one stood outside. ‘Hello?’ She walked out onto the porch holding her jumper closed as the chilly evening wind rustled through her hair. It was when she looked round that she saw the shadowy figure in the night. When it moved towards her, red hair and dark brown eyes came into view in the porch light. As Waverly stared into them, she could see there was as much confusion in them as there was in her own. ‘Hi?’

‘Hi,’ the reply was breathless, caught off guard by Waverly’s appearance. ‘Where am I?’

Waverly frowned, ‘you don’t know where you are?’

‘No,’ Nicole admitted. ‘I just woke up over there,’ she pointed behind Waverly’s house. ‘And now I have no idea who and where I am.’ Her eyes traced Waverly’s lips as she stepped forward. ‘Can you tell me?’

A little nervously, Waverly looked up at Nicole taking in her perfect pale complexion and soft features. She was beautiful. She tried to gather her thoughts. ‘I…’ she looked pained. ‘I have no idea either.’

‘Very strange… don’t you think?’

‘Extremely,’ Waverly agreed. Then a thought struck her. ‘I’m going to assume that this is my house… there’s pictures of me inside. But… what were you doing here?’

‘I honestly couldn’t tell you…’ she gazed down at Waverly. She felt the overwhelming longing to touch her. ‘Maybe…’ she was scared to say. ‘… maybe we… mean something to each other?’

Unknown to Nicole, Waverly was even more afraid, ‘what makes you say that?’

Nicole became suddenly very shy, ‘I don’t know…’ she broke their eye contact. ‘Just a guess…’

Waverly smiled, enjoying Nicole’s slight embarrassment. She found it very endearing. ‘Well whatever… we might be… something strange is going on.’ She looked around, trying to find any other clues but there was only the scattering of the other houses and the countryside beyond. ‘How about you stay out here and have a look around and I’ll go back inside, see if I can find anything?’

‘Sounds like a plan,’ Nicole nodded. Waverly watched her start round the house before heading back inside. She looked at all the pictures on the walls until finally she came across one with a young girl and an inscription on the bottom. She took it off the wall to have a closer look.

‘Waverly aged eight,’ she read. ‘Is that me?’ Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a bag lying propped up against the wall. She grabbed it and opened it emptying its contents onto the floor. Her eyes were instantly drawn to a strange purple book lying in the middle of the pile. ‘Spells to restore.’ She picked it up and rubbed her hand over the slightly velvety cover. ‘Magic?’ Opening the cover, she saw writing on the inside of the front cover. ‘Property of Randy Nedley…’

 

Clutching the book in her hand, Waverly tore out of the door. ‘Hello!’ she wished she knew the name to call out into the dark. For a moment, there was no answer. ‘Hello… you there?’ Then she heard the crunching of feet in the grass as Nicole appeared. The relief that she was alright was overwhelming.

‘I’m here…’ Nicole said as she approached. ‘Did you find anything?’

‘Yes…’ Waverly held up the book. ‘It a book about magic and it’s the property of a Randy Nedley…’ Both girls made a face at the name. ‘Randy? Such an unfortunate name…’

‘I’d say,’ Nicole agreed.

‘I think mine’s Waverly…’

‘How do you know?’

‘My pictures are on the walls in there and there was inscription on one of them…’ Waverly told her.

‘Waverly… pretty name,’ Nicole smiled. ‘Wish I knew what mine was…’

Waverly studied her. ‘I’m sure it’s a really pretty name too…’ Their eyes met again. Waverly felt herself getting breathless but Nicole’s body was strangely calm for how she was feeling.

‘We better find out who this Randy Nedley is… is there anything else in the book?’ As Waverly opened it, Nicole stood beside her so she could see too. Their bodies touched and it caused them both to pause. Waverly felt her heart quicken as she flicked through the book. Soon she found she wasn’t paying any attention to what she was doing. ‘There!’ Nicole placed her hand on the book to prevent the pages from turning any further. At the back of the book was a stamp, ‘property of Purgatory High’.

‘I guess we’re going to Purgatory High,’

 

Pushing another branch out of the way, Wynonna searched for something she would recognised but she was not accustomed to any of her surroundings.

‘How can I not recognise anything?’ she cried.

Dolls too looked very unnerved, ‘it is very unsettling.’

‘Ugh!’ putting her hands to her head, Wynonna slumped down on a nearby tree stump. ‘What is this? Some sort of amnesia that we’re both suffering with? Or the world’s worst hangover?’

‘I’d much rather it be the latter,’ Dolls chuckled. ‘Maybe we were on a date and we really hit the heavy stuff…?’ He added coyly.

Wynonna looked up, ‘on a date?’

His smile vanished, ‘I didn’t mean… I…’ he didn’t finish as his shot to something which had emerged through the trees behind them. Disfigured and growling, the vampire approached. ‘Er… what is that?’

Leaping to her feet, Wynonna spun and saw the demon, ‘oh god, what’s wrong with his face?’

‘Are you okay sir?’ Dolls asked.

The vampire did not answer. Simply smirking it continued to march forward. ‘Er… you sure you should be nice to it?’ Wynonna asked as she backed away to cower behind Dolls.

‘He might need our help,’ Dolls protested as he put his arms protectively around Wynonna.

‘Just make it go away.’ She held onto his arms as she peered out from behind his back.

The vampire was only a few meters away. ‘Look mate… we don’t want any trouble…’ Dolls tried. The vampire had other ideas as he growled nastily, bearing his teeth proudly like a wolf. He began to circle them amused at their fear. ‘Clearly you’ve taken something… which is making you think you’re… whatever this is and… don’t do anything you might regret…’

The vampire threw his head back and laughed, ‘bored now.’  As soon as the words left his mouth he launched himself forward in an attempt to collide with Dolls. Dolls however, was quicker and with Wynonna’s terrified scream ringing out in his ears, he deflected the vampire masterfully sending him reeling into a nearby tree.

‘Woah!’ Wynonna cried. ‘That was so cool! Did you know you could do that?’

Dolls looked at his hands. ‘Nope… no idea.’ Furious, the vampire sprung to his feet and whirled round to face them. Strengthened by his unexpected skills, Dolls put his hands up in front of him. ‘Stay back… I got this…’ Wynonna did as she was told. The vampire came again but more cautiously. He and Dolls began to exchange punches, each time Dolls found he was able to react and duck each one the vampire tried to lay on him. ‘You know you asked if I was an army man?’ he called over to Wynonna as they fought. ‘I think you might be right!’ Spinning, he slammed his foot into the vampire’s chest. With a groan, the vampire staggered backwards. Confidently, Dolls marched over and went to grab the demon, but he had been too confident. Skilfully, the vampire flipped himself up and head butted Dolls causing the human to groan and stumble backwards. He tried to react, but the vampire was already on him raining down punches.

‘Do you need help?’ Wynonna shouted.

‘No…’ he blocked one punch, but had to take another. ‘Stay back!’

‘But… he’s….’

‘Stay back!’ Dolls screamed. ‘I got this!’ With a surge of energy, Dolls leapt up cracked his fist upwards into the vampire’s jaw. Alarmed, the vampire screamed and lost its balance. Falling on the floor, its attention now turned to Wynonna realising that Dolls could not be beaten. Terrified, Wynonna shrank back as the vampire began its charge towards her. She stood alone and vulnerable. Dolls saw this immediately and his entire body filled with paralyzing dread and fear. ‘Wynonna run!’

 

 


	20. Lie to me - Part 2

 

Stumbling clumsily, Wynonna began to walk backwards and tried to hasten her pace but the vampire was quicker. She could see the glint of his sharp teeth as he neared. There was pure ferocity in his eyes, animalistic and predatory. All humanity that had resided in the body when human was gone. Wynonna knew nothing of the creature before her except the innate sense that it was strong and her life was in real peril. It flew at her ready to drive her into the floor. Dolls, who had been desperately scrambling to his feet, froze in horror. Then something else happened. As if her body weren’t her own, Wynonna blocked him and it was the vampire who was instead driven into the floor. Instinctively, she reached into her jacket where a stake waited. Without questioning its very existence or location, she grabbed it and thrust it into the vampire’s chest. Wynonna’s and the vampire’s expressions mirrored each other in complete shock as he exploded into dust and the night became silent once again. Wynonna remained rigid with her hand still in the air gripping the stake where she had thrust it into the vanquished vampire.

Stunned, Dolls approached carefully. ‘What… the… hell… was… that?’

Staring at it, Wynonna slowly lowered the stake before she turned to him, ‘I have no idea…’ she breathed out. Then slowly, her mouth spread into a grin. ‘But it was awesome!’

 

Together, Waverly and Nicole entered the library cautiously as neither of them knew the building or the man they were looking for. Cast in shadow, the room appeared empty until a nervous looking man, after hearing their footsteps, emerged from the office on the right. Upon seeing the arrivals, he snatched up a cross bow from the desk behind him and held it up.

‘Woah…’ Waverly cried as she and Nicole stuck their hands in the air.

‘Who are you?’ the man asked his voice shaking slightly.

Nicole and Waverly looked at each other. ‘Well, I’m Waverly… and she’s… um…’ they looked awkward. ‘That’s the thing, we don’t know.’

The man dropped his bow slightly but his finger remained on the trigger. His eyes thinned as he studied Nicole. ‘You don’t know who you are?’

‘I really don’t,’ she told him.

‘A conundrum I seem to be facing also,’ the man said. He looked between them, still trying to judge their characters and intentions. ‘But what are you doing here?’

‘I found this book,’ Waverly said holding it up. ‘It has a name in it. It seems to be about magic… so we hoped that whoever…’ she opened it to read the name. ‘… Randy Nedley is… he might be able to give us some answers.’

‘Randy Nedley?’ he checked lowering the crossbow completely.

‘Yes… do you know him?’

‘Yes…’ he nodded. ‘I think he might be me…’

 

Sitting around one of the tables, Waverly and Nicole held mugs of coffee in their hands as Nedley poured over the book that Waverly had brought. Waverly found herself watching Nicole as she sipped her coffee lightly. There was something so alluring about her that Waverly could not shut out.

‘Other than my name and the fact it is a book from a collection here in this library… I’m not sure how this book can help us,’ Nedley sighed placing it down on the table. ‘I have to say… this is most peculiar.’

‘I know… how can we all just wake up and not know who we are?’ Waverly agreed.

‘There must be some answers here…’ he said gesturing to all the books around him.

Waverly looked past him at all the books open on the office desk, ‘have you been looking already?’

Nedley glanced behind him, ‘yes… but I’ve found nothing. When I woke up to see books about demons, spells and prophecies all around me… I didn’t know what to think.’

‘Spells… do you think this could be one?’ Nicole asked sitting up in her chair.

‘I have no idea,’ Nedley shrugged. ‘And to be honest with you… I have no idea where to start…’

‘Well… there must be something here,’ Waverly decided standing up. As she did so, she got a strange sense of déjà vu, like it was something she had said before. It was fleeting and she shook it off. ‘I guess, we better start looking.’

‘Good idea.’ Nedley nodded as Waverly started towards the opposite side of the library. ‘Oh… young lady… Waverly isn’t it?’ She nodded in response. ‘Something tells me the best place to look is at the back there…’ He pointed beyond the shelves that were in view then frowned at this. ‘Though, I have no idea how I know that.’ Without questioning it, Waverly changed her direction and motioned for Nicole to follow. Nicole did so with no argument.

 

‘Do you have any idea what we’re looking for?’ she asked as she followed Waverly through the shelves.

‘Not a clue… but we have to start somewhere…’ Soon she found the door Nedley was referring to. She pushed it open to reveal the small dark room with more shelves filled with texts. Except this time, they were much older and the musty spell that greeted them was potent. She took a moment to take it all in. Behind her, Nicole found her eyes lingering on Waverly’s neck. She thought at first it was due to its slender shape and line but her eyes seemed to be seeing deeper. She could sense it and she could smell it. The blood pumping just under the skin. It was calling out to her. Her eyes were fixed as a new urge rose inside. For Nicole, Waverly stepping forward into the room was most opportune, as the temptation was taken away and she was left bewildered with her thoughts. ‘You coming?’ came the girl’s soft voice as she switched on the light.

Nicole forced her frown to fade despite being unsettled by desires she had just discovered. ‘Of course…’ she stepped into the room to see Waverly’s fingers already tracing the spines of the books. ‘What are we looking for?’

‘Books on spells… to do with memory…’ Waverly replied. ‘Seems like a good start.’ Nodding, Nicole headed to the other side of the shelf. As they peered at the books, they could still see each other between the gaps. ‘Who do you think you are then?’ Waverly asked curiously. ‘I mean… you could be anyone.’

‘So you could you,’ Nicole shot back playfully. They giggled. ‘Well… by the look of this coat…’ she gestured to the long black leather one she was wearing. ‘I’d like to think I’m some sort of detective… like those tortured ones out of the dark stories… or maybe in a band. I mean… I have the looks. Don’t you think?’

‘I can see that,’ Waverly pondered studying Nicole. ‘I bet you have an amazing voice…’

Nicole enjoyed the compliment, then brushed it off with the amusement that it might not be true at all. ‘So…’ she continued to look at the books. ‘Now that we’ve established I might be an awesome singer… who do you think you are?’

‘Well… if it is me in those photos back at the house, I was eight in 2008… so now, I must be 17… meaning I probably go to this school. Which is why I had a book from this library.’

‘A school girl?’ Nicole giggled as she reached the end of the shelving unit. ‘That would be a shame…’

Waverly also reached the end of hers as they gazed at each other. ‘And why is that?’

‘Because, if I am a professional like a detective… that would make me a lot older than you…’

Surprising herself, Waverly moved a little closer to Nicole, ‘… would that be a problem? I mean… you can’t be that much older…’

Nicole found herself leaning down, ‘maybe I’ve just aged well…’ she quipped flirtatiously.

Slowly, Waverly reached her hand up to Nicole’s cheek and brushed her fingers down it softly, ‘…. you do have amazing skin…’ stroking the cheek again, she frowned. ‘… and… you’re so…’

‘What?’ Nicole whispered adoring the touch.

Waverly pressed her entire hand against the cheek, ‘… cold…’

 

‘We’re back bitches!’

The cry tore through the air throwing Waverly and Nicole apart. Instantly, they hustled out of the back room as they heard Nedley’s voice greet them.

‘Keep it down… this is a library!’ he cried unimpressed.

‘Oh come on Neddles… it’s me!’ Nedley however stood completely speechless at the two young men who had entered his library. He did not recognise them at all. ‘Oh dear… you been at the whiskey again?’ Jeremy asked amused.

‘I er….’ Nedley started perplexed but Jeremy’s eyes were drawn somewhere else.

‘Hey… Waves!’ he smiled as she appeared on the balcony. Then, his face dropped to horror. ‘Waverly! Behind you!’ He had spotted Nicole appearing behind his friend.

‘Do you know me?’ Waverly asked unaware of what was causing Jeremy’s terror. ‘Do you know us?’

‘Get away from her!’ Jeremy shouted beginning to run up the stairs towards them.

Waverly looked at Nicole who was just as bewildered, ‘… excuse me… what are you…?’

‘Move away!… what the hell are you doing!?’ Panicked, Waverly looked between Nicole and the boy running towards her. ‘Get back, she’s clearly done something to you…’

‘She’s done nothing and she’s not…’ Reaching into his pocket as Waverly spoke, Jeremy pulled out a cross and shoved it up into Nicole’s face. Feeling its effect instantly, Nicole growled and stumbled backwards. She was so startled, she fell to the floor.

‘Stay back…’ Jeremy gasped putting himself between Nicole and Waverly still holding up the cross with a shaking but determined hand.

Slowly, Nicole pushed herself up and when she turned, Waverly saw exactly what Jeremy was referring to. Her hand shaking as much as Jeremy’s, she covered her mouth in shock as her eyes fell upon Nicole’s vulgar vampire appearance. Horrified, Nicole could feel it. She brought her hands up to her forehead, then felt the jagged edges of her teeth.

‘What… what is that?’ Waverly stammered.

‘It’s Nicole Waverly,’ Jeremy replied stunned. ‘The evil vampire who’s been trying to kill us… especially you.’

Almost heartbroken, Waverly and Nicole stared at each other. Instead of the longing in their eyes, there was now only sadness and confusion.

 

‘So, none of you can remember who you are?’ Jeremy asked trying to get caught up. Behind him, Nicole was now locked in the weapons cage. Waverly was trying to listen to Jeremy, but her eyes kept wandering to the sad figured standing trapped and alone trying to process what she had just learnt. Despite her face being in human form, Nicole was now very aware of her lack of breath and of a beating heart. To learn that she was dead was causing a swirling storm in her mind.

‘No… we had no idea until your arrival,’ Nedley nodded. He looked between Jeremy and Pete. ‘How is it you can remember who you are?’

‘Beats me…’ Jeremy shrugged. ‘I just arrive back home, come to catch up with the gang and see Nicole standing behind Waverly…’ He put an arm around his friend. ‘I thought she had crept up on you… was so scared.’

‘I had no idea…’ her eyes drifted to Nicole. ‘… and neither did she.’

They all looked at her. ‘So she had no idea that she’s evil?’ Pete wondered ensuring his voice level was dimmed. ‘Like at all.’

‘She gave no indication no…’ Waverly replied shaking her head.

‘You don’t think that it was a ruse do you?’

Waverly looked at Jeremy, ‘no, I really don’t… I’ve been with her all evening and she hasn’t tried to hurt me at all.’ Overwhelmed, she broke out of Jeremy’s embrace. ‘So, let me get this straight… from what you’ve told us… we all know each other and I’m a witch, you’re a werewolf… both of you… and Nedley’s a watcher to something called a slayer?’

‘Yes… the slayer being Wynonna…’ Jeremy nodded. ‘Funny girl, queen of sarcasm and cool leather coat.’

‘And Nicole…’ Waverly went on.

‘Oh… I’m not sure you want me to go there…’ Jeremy said.

‘Why?’

He looked at Pete nervously then back at Waverly. ‘It’s not a happy story…’

Waverly’s eyes drifted to Nicole’s again. The vampire hadn’t taken her eyes off her for a moment. ‘Maybe not then… but she doesn’t want to hurt us now.’

‘That might be the case…’ Nedley chimed in. ‘But I would feel a lot safer if she stayed in the cage.’ Waverly dropped her head, she wanted to argue but she thought better of it.

‘So how did this happen?’ Pete asked breaking the brief awkward silence. ‘How have you all forgotten who you are?’

‘We have absolutely no idea,’ Nedley replied. ‘My question is… how is it that you are not effected? Maybe if we can find that out, we can find our answers.’

‘I have no idea my man…’ Jeremy shrugged. ‘But in a situation like this, there’s only one thing you would tell us to do…’ he picked one of the texts lying on the table. ‘… hit the books.’

 

The town was eerily quiet as Doc and Rosita wandered down the main street. The few restaurants and bars that should have been open were closed and dark. The sparse number of people that they could see, seemed to be wandering aimlessly looking lost and dazed.

‘It seems to have befallen the whole town,’ Doc commented. They watched as an elderly man passed them talking to himself. His eyes were wide and frightened as he searched all around him, trying to find something he could recognise. ‘These are strange times indeed.’

‘Here… this one seems to be open,’ she pushed the door open to Shorty’s and made her way inside. When Doc followed, they found the place mostly empty, apart from a few stragglers wearing the same vacant and absent expression they had seen on so many others. ‘Do you think it’s the same for all of them?’

‘It appears so…’ he took off his hat and made his way to the bar. Behind it, a man stood cleaning glasses. ‘Is this your establishment?’

‘That I cannot tell you,’ the man admitted as he finished cleaning one glass and picked up another. ‘My mind is as blank as a piece of paper. But I woke up right here behind the bar… I just figured I hit my head or something and if I’m back here, makes sense that I work here.’

‘Aren’t you a little worried though?’ Rosita questioned joining them. ‘How none of us know who we are?’

The man chuckled, ‘you’d think so… but something inside me is saying that as long as I keep serving drinks, everything will be okay. Clearly it must be my job.’

‘Well then bar keep,’ Doc agreed getting up onto one of the bar stools. ‘Serve us up.’

‘What are you doing?’ Rosita enquired surprised.

‘The man has a point… we have to go with our gut feeling because maybe deep down we know who we are… and right now… all I know is, I want a drink.’ Rosita looked at Doc, then at the bar man and knew there was no point in arguing. She hoisted herself up onto the seat next to Doc. ‘Make that two please.’

 

Glancing over her shoulder, Waverly could see that Jeremy, Pete and Nedley were deep into search mode and not paying attention to her movements as she approached the cage. Nicole now sat on the floor leaning back against one of the filing cabinets, but as Waverly got closer she jumped to her feet.

‘How are you doing?’ Waverly asked with a lowered voice.

‘I’m in a cage… how do you think I’m doing?’ Nicole retorted with a playful smile.

Waverly looked up into soft brown eyes, ‘if it was up to me, you wouldn’t be in there.’

‘I know… but they have a point,’ Nicole said looking over at the others. ‘I must be very dangerous for Jeremy to be so scared of me.’

‘I’m not scared of you…’ Waverly said wistfully. ‘You had lots of chances to kill me… but you didn’t…’

Their eyes found each other again, but this time Nicole was holding back. Deep inside, she could feel the cravings rising. They had been for a while. As she had sat in the cage, staring out at Waverly and her friends, the desire to kill them had been getting ever stronger. She had been able to smell their blood and it was excruciating. Waverly’s smelt the most delicious of all.

‘I’ve got it!’ came the cry from the table as Jeremy left up. Waverly reached up and touched Nicole’s fingers which were holding onto the cage before making her way over the excitable werewolf. Nedley and Pete joined her. ‘This must be a smell of some kind, so in order to find out what it is and who did it, we need to do a glamour spell.’

‘A glamour spell?’ Nedley asked.

‘Yes, it unmasks the spell…’ he pointed to the page he had found in the book. ‘A glamour spell is mostly used to cover things up, but done correctly it can reveal things as well.’

‘Don’t we need a witch for that?’ Pete pointed out.

‘We know one…’ but he didn’t look at Waverly. ‘Mattie… she is a very powerful witch and one strong enough to pull off a spell like this…’ He then looked at Waverly. ‘No offence Waves, but you’re just starting out and…’

‘It’s fine,’ Waverly assured him a little relieved. ‘I don’t remember anything about being a witch… so probably better to go to someone who might.’

‘You going to come?’ Jeremy asked as he gathered his things and slung his bag over his shoulder.

Waverly forced herself to not look at Nicole, ‘no… I better stay and keep researching with Nedley…’

‘Okay,’ too rushed to notice Waverly’s clear alternative intentions, Jeremy gestured for Pete to follow him and the two ran out of the library.

Nedley watched them go. ‘Let’s hope they get somewhere.’ He looked back at Waverly. ‘I’m going to continue researching in my office. Let me know if you need anything.’ He moved to go but then moved his eyes over the Nicole in the cage. ‘She does not leave that cage you hear?’ Waverly nodded but avoided his eye contact. Nedley however was satisfied and returned to his books and tea. Once he was out sight, Waverly turned to face Nicole with a mischievous smile.

 

‘How did you know to stake him like that?’

‘Not a clue!’ Wynonna cried excitedly. ‘But did you see what he did? Poof!’ She threw her arms up in the air so emphasise her joy.

Dolls shook his head amused, ‘that was very different.’

‘I must be some kind of demon fighter!’ Wynonna exclaimed as they moved through the cemetery making their way back into town. ‘How else would I know how to do that?’

‘A demon fighter?’ Dolls scoffed. ‘Demons don’t exist…’

‘Er!?’ Wynonna gestured behind them intending to jog his memory of what had happened only a few moments before. Dolls face was an expression of concession. ‘That was a demon… and I fought the crap out of it.’

‘Actually I think you’ll find… I fought the crap out of it and you finished him off.’

‘With some mad skills!’ Wynonna cried.

‘Okay then… come on…’ Dolls said halting his stride. ‘Let’s see what else you can do.’ He moved in front of her and put himself in an attacking stance.

‘Oh what?…’ Wynonna laughed. ‘We’re going to fight? You and me?’

‘Yeah! Clearly I have skills too… as I said… did you not see me back there with the vampire?’

‘Which, as you said, I had to finish for you,’ Wynonna quipped proudly.

Dolls rolled his eyes but secretly enjoyed how much pleasure it gave her, ‘I’d like to think he went for the weaker person…’

Wynonna feigned anger, ‘oh you’re in for it now.’

 

Dipping her head, Waverly checked round the corner to make sure that Nedley was still sipping his tea and still had his head buried in another book. Having seen what she wanted, she tiptoed across the library to the other side where Nicole still waited in the cage. Waverly took the key off its hook and began to unlock the door.

‘Waverly…’ Nicole whispered unsure as she came to the door. ‘What are you doing?’

‘You shouldn’t be in there…’ She went to pull the door open, but Nicole held it shut. ‘What’s wrong?’

Nicole’s eyes were conflicted, ‘you’ve seen what I am…’

‘Are you going to hurt me?’

The vampire’s brain toiled with the thoughts inside it. One moment, the demon’s desire was overwhelming then the other all she wanted to do was to hold Waverly and protect her from the very thing she was. ‘No… I will never hurt you.’

She let go of the door, allowing Waverly to pull it open, ‘well… come on then…’ she took Nicole’s hand and pulled her out of the library without looking back.

They scampered down the school’s hallways until they had burst through the front doors out in the open air. Nicole stopped running, halting their escape. ‘Doesn’t it bother you?’ she asked as Waverly turned back to face her. ‘Jeremy clearly thinks I’m something you should be very afraid of.’

‘But I’m not,’ Waverly said stepping closer to her. ‘I don’t know what it is but I’m not afraid.’

If Nicole could, she would have held her breath. ‘I am… because there is a part of me… that… that wants to…’ she stopped and looked away ashamed.

‘What?’ Waverly placed her finger under Nicole’s chin so she could lift it. ‘Kill me?’ Nicole allowed her eyes to find Waverly’s. Now all she could see was dark soulfulness of them and her beautiful inviting lips. ‘… is that what you want to do?’

‘No…’ Nicole exhaled without the breath.

There was a sweet smile on Waverly’s lips, ‘what do you want to do?’ Her voice was barely audible as their faces closed the gap between them. Nicole’s face remained deadly serious as she cupped Waverly’s cheek and pressed their lips together. Eyes closed, she could feel Waverly press back and all her demonic desires seemed to fade away. As their lips parted and met again, Nicole brought a hand to the small of Waverly’s back to pull her in. The closing proximity added more fervency to their kisses as the hunger rose. Lost in each other’s arms, they forgot the troubles around them.

 

‘Okay… so that’s not creepy…’ Pete gulped as he and Jeremy looked up at Mattie’s house.

‘I know… I really hoped I would never have to come back to this place…’ Jeremy groaned as they walked up the steps. He grabbed the huge iron door handle and tapped it three times then retreated quickly.

It was a while before there was any answer, but finally Mattie came to the door. ‘Who are you?’

‘Ah…,’ Jeremy sighed. ‘Are you by any chance suffering a slight case of memory loss?’

‘Yes… since I woke up this evening.’

‘Yeah,’ Jeremy nodded. ‘You and the whole damn town.’

‘Are you?’ Mattie frowned.

‘No… neither of us are…’ Jeremy told her. ‘Which we know is a little strange…’

‘More very disconcerting,’ Mattie said a little accusingly.

Pete and Jeremy looked at each other then back at Mattie, ‘oh no…’ Jeremy protested. ‘No no no… not us… no no. We think this is some spell and we’re werewolves, not witches… that’s what you are and we’re hoping you can help?’

‘Me?’ Mattie scoffed. ‘A witch?’ Jeremy and Pete looked at her then at the house in which she lived. ‘Yeah okay,’ she conceded showing that she was playing them. ‘I’d worked that much out.’

‘So will you help us?’ Jeremy pushed gently. ‘We were thinking about a glamour spell. It will…’

‘Reveal the spell and he who cast it,’ Mattie finished. She looked surprised. ‘How do I know that?’

‘Must be the witch in your subconscious,’ Pete suggested.

 

Nervously, Pete and Jeremy followed Mattie upstairs to the same room where Mattie’s sister’s spell had been discovered. Jeremy felt very unnerved to be there again but knowing that he was with the with less evil one of the two sisters was a little comforting.

‘You do know that I have no recollection of being a witch?’ Mattie said as she began to search one of the shelves filled with books. The room hadn’t changed, still covered in cobwebs, draped in black and purple cloth and curious wiccan items decorating the walls and the ceiling.

‘But if you have the power… you’ll be able to do the spell?’ Pete asked as she studied one of the strange jars on the another rack of shelves. ‘What even is this?’

‘I wish I could tell you,’ Mattie admitted as she found the book she needed. ‘But something tells me it’s what’s left of something else.’ Pete backed away from it quickly a little disgusted. ‘Okay…’ she placed the large brown book down and opened it. ‘This is very helpfully labelled glamour spells so I’m going to go on an educated guess and say this will have what we need…’ she traced her finger down the contents. ‘Yeah… here we go… to lift the veil…’ She flicked quickly to the page. ‘I have all these things… I saw them when I was exploring this place earlier.’

‘Okay… that’s good… we’ll help you get them.’

As Mattie read out the ingredients, Pete and Jeremy located them on the many shelves and in the many draws that were scattered around the room. Reading the instructions carefully, Mattie began to prepare the spell. As she did, it became more and more familiar and it was as if her hands were taking over and knew what they were doing. Suddenly she stopped.

‘What’s wrong?’ Jeremy asked noticing her tension.

Mattie backed away from the table, ‘what if I did this?’ she looked at him with terrified eyes. ‘If this is a spell and I’m a witch, what if I did this?’

Pete and Jeremy looked between each other questioning the idea also. It was clear from their faces that they were not sure what to say. ‘It was probably an accident,’ Jeremy assured her. ‘And… we know you and we have come to you because you are a good person… it was your sister that was evil.’ Mattie settled looking more relaxed. ‘Also, if it was you, at least you get the chance to put it right.’

Mattie nodded as she looked back at the book, ‘kinda sucks that my sister is evil…’

‘Trust us… it sucked more for her,’ Jeremy stated.

Mattie took a deep breath and returned to the table. Skilfully she put the ingredients into the pot as directed and began to mutter the words under her breath. She took a moment to acknowledge how confidently she was doing it and enjoyed a little smile to herself. Jeremy and Pete stepped back as the room around them began to glow pink and a strange mist rose from the sparking pot. Mattie’s eyes closed and her head began to twitch. She was connecting to the spell and was seeing what had gone before. When her eyes opened, her pupils were pink and her face stern.

‘The spell maker was angry…’ it was as if many voices were speaking as Mattie’s was not her own. ‘… she wanted to forget. Her heart broken by the one on which she was set.’ Her neck tightened as she looked deeper. Jeremy and Pete stayed back slightly on edge. ‘… she’s new to the fold… but her lover was old. Turned evil by a curse that should have been foretold…’

Jeremy’s eyes closed in dismay, ‘Waverly…’

‘Waverly did this?’ Pete asked checking he’d heard right.

‘Who else has recently lost the one they loved to a curse?’

Pete also looked dejected. ‘Good point.’

‘Oh god Waves,’ Jeremy breathed out. ‘What were you doing?’

‘Trying to forget,’ came the voices from inside Mattie again. ‘… love is pain which many have met.’

‘Okay okay, that’s enough rhyming out of you,’ Jeremy snapped a little irritated. ‘How do we undo this?’

Mattie closed her eyes and shook her head violently. When she opened them, her eyes had returned to normal though she looked a little shaken. ‘Well that was different…’

‘I’ll say…’ Pete agreed.

‘She did a simple forgetting spell, hoping only to erase her mind of what she had lost, but she is far more powerful than she thought and the spell was too strong… it affected the entire town.’

‘But why not us?’ Pete asked still confused.

Mattie began to gather more ingredients. ‘Have you been out of town recently?’

‘Yes, my band was playing in Red Deer, we only just got back earlier this evening…’ Pete realised.

‘Then you were exempt from the spell,’ she spoke as she carried on with her work. ‘It seems in only effected those within a 5-mile radius of where the spell was cast. Now we have to put what your lil witchy friend did right.’

‘She’s not a bad person,’ Jeremy argued not liking Mattie’s tone. ‘Waverly would never have meant to do this on purpose.’

‘But clearly she doesn’t know her own power,’ Mattie shot back. ‘And that… makes her very dangerous.’ Jeremy shrunk back as he continued to watch Mattie prepare the reversal spell. As much as he hated to hear it, he couldn’t deny that Mattie had a point.

 

Breaking away, Nicole could feel Waverly’s breath on her lips. It felt incredible. ‘You taste… so familiar…’

‘So do you.’ She wanted to continue gazing up at Nicole, but the sudden increasing light around them caught her attention. ‘Is it morning?’

‘No…’ Nicole looked up also. ‘But it’s getting that way.’

‘We have to get inside… you can’t be out here when the sun comes up…’ She tried to pull Nicole back towards the school but Nicole stood firm. ‘Nicole?’

‘I can’t go back in there… they hate me and now you’ve let me out…’

‘They’re not going to be too happy with me either,’ Waverly agreed.

‘Come on… there must be some tunnels or sewers I can get to…’ Without arguing, Waverly ran after Nicole. The morning was coming quickly as she could hear the birds beginning their song all around them.

 

Laughing, Wynonna pinned Dolls down on the grass. He tried to fight against her but her she was far too strong. Instead, he just lay back and enjoyed the feel of her body on top of his. Once the laughter had died down, Wynonna realised she was enjoying her position also.

‘You got me,’ Dolls said catching his breath.

Wynonna let go of his hands and pushed herself up using his firm chest. She ran her hands down his muscly physique and found herself quite overcome. ‘Can’t believe we’ve been doing this all night.’ She ran a hand through her hair as she straightened.

Dolls could sense she was pulling away, ‘hey…’ cautiously he moved his hands to her legs. Wynonna looked back a little surprised. ‘I don’t know who we are but I know… there’s something between us.’

It was what she wanted to hear, but it she could not ignore the grip of dread it brought as well. ‘I know… I feel it too.’

‘Then let that be it,’ Dolls sat up so that Wynonna remained in his lap but he could be closer to her. ‘Just too strangers who are having the weirdest night that are really attracted to each other.’

‘It doesn’t bother you? About who we were before this?’ Wynonna asked.

With a smile, Dolls shook his head, ‘no…’ he reached up and stroked her cheek. ‘You seem like the most extraordinary woman I have ever met…’

‘You don’t remember anyone else you’ve met,’ Wynonna pointed out.

‘That is true,’ Dolls had to conceded. ‘But, if I met anyone else… I don’t think they’d come close to you.’

Wynonna stared into his eyes, completely pulled in. ‘Nice recovery,’ she said softly.

‘I thought so,’ Dolls beamed. Slowly, the smiles disappeared and all there was were their eyes, breath and lips. Hesitantly, watching every flicker of her eyes, Dolls leaned up but waited for Wynonna to meet him. She did as their lips met and they dissolved into each other’s arms as the morning began to brighten around them.

 

‘Now you see here ma’am,’ Doc argued as he and Rosita staggered towards the house. ‘This dear building here must have been something in its time… for I assume that this was a house of mine… and any house of mine must have been impressive.’

‘You do think a lot of yourself don’t you…’ Rosita chuckled as she leaned against one of the porch’s pillars. ‘A man of great arrogance but yet his eyes speak of much kindness.’ Doc played at being embarrassed. ‘What would I call such man?’

‘Well, you can call me anything you like… for neither you or I know our names.’

Rosita studied him, ‘you seem to me like a John or William, something old fashioned.’

‘I like John… it’s a strong name.’

‘Okay… John it is,’ Rosita nodded conclusively. ‘Well what about me?’

Doc examined her, every inch of her beauty which could take his breath away, ‘maybe a Roseanne… or Michelle…’ he frowned. ‘I seem to have a fondness for the name Michelle…’

‘Maybe she was an old lover or sister?’ Rosita suggested. She stopped and looked a little perturbed. ‘And for that reason, I think I will choose Roseanne.’

‘A beautiful name…’ His eyes lingered on her for a moment then they were distracted by the sun beginning to appear over the hills. ‘Morning has come…’ Rosita spun around and something inside was instantly repulsed by the sight of the sun. Hissing unexpectedly, she rushed inside to seek shelter in the skeleton of the house. Bewildered, Doc followed. ‘What in God’s name was that?’

‘I have no idea,’ Rosita admitted. ‘But it felt like the light could hurt me.’

‘Another mystery in our tale.’

Rosita did not want to think of what her discovery could mean so fixed her attention on the puzzled man before her, ‘… the biggest mystery to me…’ she walked forward and met his eyes. ‘… is how you have made me feel this night.’

Sighing, Doc’s face softened with affection. ‘A sentiment I also share…’

‘Would you see it realised?’ Rosita asked.

Doc took off his hat and threw it to one side, ‘I most certainly would.’ He swept her up in his arms and pressed her against the wall behind. With drunken urgency, she pushed his long grey coat of his shoulders causing it to fall to the floor at his feet. Simultaneously, Doc pulled off her black leather jacket to join it. As their lips continued to lock in heated desire, Doc led Rosita into what was loosely the living room and there they fell upon the old sofa sitting alone. Rosita moaned at the feeling of Doc’s body on top of her own as the two forgot the morning.

 

‘Here!’ Waverly cried as she found some steps. ‘Down here!’ Holding her coat around her face, Nicole growled in pain as she shot down the stairs. Waverly could see soft wisps of smoke coming from her body as she found shelter in the shadows below. She closed the man hole cover to shut out any light and joined Nicole at the bottom of the steps. ‘Are you okay?’

‘That was close,’ Nicole winced as she dusted herself off.

‘Are you in pain?’ Waverly asked worried.

Nicole turned to her touched by the concern, ‘I’m fine…’ Waverly did not seem comforted by the words spurring Nicole to do more. She took Waverly’s face gently in her hands and brought their lips together hoping it would calm the young girl’s worries. By the relaxation of the other body into her own, the vampire sensed she had been successful. They giggled when they eventually parted. ‘See… absolutely fine…’ she absorbed Waverly’s contented face before seeing something behind the human. ‘Wait… I know this place…’ She gently let go of Waverly and walked past her to a door at the end of the corridor. Carefully, she pushed the door and found it was open. Both she and Waverly peered inside.

‘Do you think this is where you live?’ Waverly asked as they ventured inside.

‘I don’t know… but it feels so…’

‘Familiar?’

Nicole nodded and started to look around, ‘whoever lives here has impeccable taste in art.’  Waverly too began to scan the walls and found herself drawn to some books on a shelf. She moved her eyes over them, studying their spines and subject until she found one with a piece of paper sticking out of the top of it. Gently, she took the book down off the shelf and opened it to reveal the paper was a photo. She dropped the book as soon as her eyes fell upon it. ‘Waverly? What’s wrong?’

Waverly picked up the photo and held it up for Nicole to see. There were tears in her eyes. The photo was a polaroid photo of Waverly with the words, ‘must die,’ scratched in red underneath. ‘You do want me dead.’

‘No…’ Nicole protested rushing to her. ‘No… this must be from who I was before… not who I am now.’ She took the photo from Waverly’s hand. ‘I do not want you dead.’ She threw the photo aside and placed both her hands lovingly on Waverly’s face once again. ‘I promise… I do not want you dead…’

Their foreheads came together as Waverly tried to regather herself. ‘Lie to me…’ she whispered. ‘Tell me you love me.’

‘What?’

‘I don’t know…’ Waverly admitted wrapping her arms around Nicole’s neck so she could feel closer. ‘I just feel so overwhelmed around you, it’s so strong and I just can’t explain it or bear it… it’s like I can’t breathe unless you’re near… unless you’re holding me. I think…’

‘I love you…’ The vampire’s voice was soft and sweet.

Waverly wanted to give in to the happiness, ‘are you doing what I asked… are you lying to me?’

‘No,’ Nicole said. ‘… everything you said, I feel it too… from the moment I saw you outside the house.’ Adoringly, she stroked Waverly’s cheeks with her thumbs loving the feel of the warmth from the human’s skin. ‘… I knew it then… I love you.’

‘I love you too…’

After that, there was no need for anymore words. Instead, they gave in, their lips meeting in unbridled passion. As their hands explored and pulled the clothes of their bodies, it was all so new but yet so familiar at the same time. Somehow they sensed, they had been here before. Gasping, Waverly leaned back as Nicole traced burning kisses up her neck. To busy her own hands she tugged Nicole’s shirt open revealing the toned body beneath. The heated embrace quietened for a moment as Waverly’s explored the cool feel of the pale skin and its definition. The injuries from before were long gone and healed, the skin unblemished and perfect. Her hands trembled, but only with excitement and expectation. Stepping forward she pressed her lips against Nicole’s chest, now causing the vampire to close her eyes at the touch. It was becoming too much to stand up and Nicole felt the need to act quickly. With ease, she took Waverly up in her arms and with their eyes locked on each other, she carried her through to the bedroom.

 

The large black pot before Mattie, was boiling and bubbling as Jeremy and Pete stood back. Sprinkling the last component into the mixture, Mattie began to chant the words inscribed on the book. At first, she continued to look down, but then the words seemed to come naturally and she only had to look into the pot to feel the power of the spell beginning to work. Slowly, the mixture changed from a brilliant green to the same pink that Waverly had conjured from her own work. It began to create the same smoke which had enveloped the town, but this time it appeared trapped. As it tried to escape, Mattie’s stern words kept it trapped within the room and it began to writhe and twist as if in pain.

 

Her back succumbing to the soft layer beneath her, Waverly welcomed the feel of Nicole’s body on her own. Both their shirts cast aside, Waverly was able to wash her hands over the silkiness of Nicole’s skin on her arms and back. Once they found her lower curves, she pulled the vampire in, wanting to feel more contact. Nicole did not resist and took some of the weight out of her arms. Their lips met again as their bodies moved together. Waverly began to gasp audibly as the feeling that this kind of love and ecstasy had been something she had been yearning for. As Nicole’s hand travelled down, Waverly closed her eyes and prepared to lose herself.

 

‘Be undone, be undone… be undone!’

The cries filled the air as the pink smoke contorted and screamed its last. The final ear-piercing noise caused Jeremy, Pete and Mattie to cover their ears as the smoke disappeared and silence fell over the house.

‘Is it… done?’ Jeremy asked slowly uncovering his ears.

Mattie was quiet for a moment, then she looked up. ‘I remember everything.’

 

The horrified growl filled Waverly’s ears as Nicole tore herself away from Waverly and off of the bed. Not losing her balance, she backed away and began wiping her mouth disgusted. Slowly and sadly, Waverly sat up as the memories also returned to her.

‘Oh god…’ Nicole cried spitting on the floor trying to get the taste of Waverly out of her mouth.

It cut into Waverly deeply, ‘… why can’t you just lie to me…’ she whispered feeling tears rising. ‘Just once.’ She spoke it only for herself to hear it.

‘I can’t believe I almost…’ she recoiled rubbing her mouth harder. ‘… oh I’m not even going to utter it.’ Without a word, Waverly began to retrieve her clothes, pulling them on whilst Nicole continued to grimace. ‘I should just kill you now…’ Came Nicole’s malicious voice. Waverly simply turned and held up her hand, it glowed the same colour as it had done in the cemetery by the church. Nicole could recall the pain it caused her. ‘Clever little witch aren’t you?’

‘You know what? I think that’s true,’ Waverly agreed holding back her tears. ‘Because I’ve just figured something out. The Nicole I met tonight only lost her memory, but she didn’t regain her soul… but yet, somehow, without it… she still loved me.’ Nicole’s face fell instantly. ‘Do you know what that tells me?’ Waverly got closer to Nicole but kept her hand out in front of her as a shield ready to use it if she needed it. ‘… that deep down, you still love me… and it’s feeling that, every day, that makes you hate me so much.’

‘You’re lying…’ Nicole winced looking appalled. ‘There’s no way I feel anything for you except repulsion and regret. I feel nothing for you.’

Calmly, now fully clothed, Waverly walked to the door and stopped within its frame, ‘… no, you’re only lying to yourself.’ Without looking back, Waverly took up her jacket from the middle of the floor and strode out of Nicole’s apartment. She did not look back; she was not going to let Nicole see that she was crying. When she was gone, Nicole was left with the horrifying thought, that Waverly could be right.

 

The spell had hit them as Wynonna pushed Dolls back onto the grass. As she leaned down to kiss him again, everything returned and they remembered it all. Flustered, she pushed herself up and stood up dusting herself off. She found she couldn’t make eye contact as he too got to his feet.

‘Wynonna…’ he started.

Wynonna put her hand up to stop him, ‘if only it could be that simple Dolls,’ she said sadly.

‘Why can’t it be?’

‘Are you seriously asking that question?’ she exclaimed. ‘Waverly is falling to pieces every day because of what Nicole is doing to her… I cannot go through that.’

‘What’s that got to do with me?’ Dolls asked lost moving towards her.

‘Because you have a demon inside you… just like her!’ With two firm hands on his chest, Wynonna pushed him back. ‘And I’ve seen what it can do and it terrifies me.’ Dolls hung his head ashamed. There was real untethered emotion in Wynonna’s voice as she spoke. ‘And it cuts me up to feel this Dolls… because I do want you…’

‘You do?’ Dolls eyes brightened as he lifted them.

‘Yes,’ she breathed out.

Dolls pressed forward again, ‘then why can’t we at least try…’

‘I slept with Doc…’ she could hardly believe the words had come out of her mouth. Dolls’ pace stopped instantly and his forehead began to glow. It was subtle and controlled, but the flames in his eyes were visible as a low growl escaped his lips. It was clear he was doing everything he could to hold the demon back. The reaction caused Wynonna to become even more disconsolate. ‘There…’ she whispered with the hint of tears in her eyes. ‘That’s why…’

Slowly, Wynonna turned and walked away from the man grimacing under the strain of what dwelled inside him. Using every ounce of strength he could muster he drove the demon down until his forehead finally turned back to skin and his eyes darkened to their normal colour. Then the pain of the man emerged as he threw an anguished cry into the air and fell onto his knees.

 

Awkwardly, turned away from one another, Doc and Rosita redressed themselves. Doc wanted to look over his shoulder but he thought better of it as he buttoned up his shirt and pulled on his waistcoat. Keeping his back to her, he walked over to where his hat lay discarded on the floor and returned it to his head.

Pulling on her jacket, Rosita moved to him. ‘I better be going?’

‘Must you go so hastily?’ Doc asked suddenly having a change of heart at the idea of her leaving.

‘Do you want me to stay?

Tentatively, Doc brought his hand up to Rosita’s face and ran his thumb gently down her cheek, ‘all I know is that I would do that again… even with my full memory returned.’

Rosita smiled, ‘and it doesn’t matter… what I am?’

‘I cannot deny that it bothers me,’ Doc admitted. ‘But I’d rather have this Rosita… than no Rosita at all…’

Taking a step in, Rosita placed her hands on his chest, loving the feel of his heartbeat, ‘and… the slayer?’

‘She was but a moment in the wind…’ he assured her. ‘You’ve always been my forever.’

Holding his face in her hands, Rosita pulled him in for a kiss. His hands placed upon her hips tugged her in closer. ‘We shouldn’t have got dressed so quickly…’ she whispered coyly.

In response, Doc took his hat off and threw it back on the floor before sweeping her up in his arms, ‘indeed we should not have…’

 

Mortified, Waverly sat with the eyes of the group boring down on her. She felt the full weight of every single pair. Wynonna tried to appear sympathetic, but she understood the gravity of what Waverly had unintentionally unleashed.

‘I can’t believe it was me…’

‘I’m could…’ Jeremy said. ‘You’ve shown yourself to be a rather handy Wicca when we need you.’

‘And this isn’t the first time you’ve delved into things beyond your capability,’ Nedley added with a more sternly adult voice.

‘I only wanted to forget…’ Waverly argued her voice quivering.

Nedley sighed, not blind to her distress, ‘that it might be, but Waverly…  you are clearly a lot stronger than you or any of us realise and soon you might do something which we cannot undo.’

‘Maybe lay off the magic mumbo gumbo for a bit eh Waves?’ Wynonna bantered, trying to lighten the mood. Waverly could only nod despondently.

‘There’s no Hogwarts for you here, we cannot teach you.’

Everyone stared at him. ‘Did he just make a Harry Potter reference?’ Jeremy gasped.

Nedley rolled his eyes, ‘I might prefer books to screens Jeremy but I wasn’t born in the stone ages…  I am up to date with some of your pop culture.’

‘Mattie could teach me,’ Waverly suggested.

The group looked amongst themselves, ‘that’s not such a bad idea,’ Wynonna commented.

‘Plus I’ve been going to that group…’

‘Maybe some one-to-one tuition is what you need for a while,’ Nedley concluded. He went to turn away then removed his glasses and smiled at Waverly. ‘I’ll also see what the council can do… Lord knows we could do with more weapons like you in our constant fight… and I know your heart is in a good place.’ Waverly gazed at him, stunned by his compassion. She’d been so long without a father figure in her life and in the moment, even if it was only a moment, she felt for all the world, that she had one. Nedley nodded, replaced his glasses and returned to his office taking up his chair with a book and his cup of tea.

‘We better go,’ Jeremy said nudging Pete. ‘He has band practise… and… I want to watch.’ The excitement was adorable causing Waverly and Wynonna to giggle happily for him. After everything he had been through, it was uplifting to see him content.

When they were gone, Wynonna slid down from sitting on the table into the chair next to Waverly, ‘so… Jeremy tells me that you and Nicole met minus memories…’

Waverly nodded, ‘it was like nothing had happened and we were back at the beginning… it was wonderful… but now… it just really hurts.’

‘Snap on that,’ Wynonna groaned.

‘Dolls?’

‘Dolls sans demon…’ Wynonna nodded sadly.

‘At least he has a soul,’ Waverly pointed out. ‘And he’s working on controlling the demon. Maybe you just need to give him a chance…’

‘He scares me though Waves… what he can do when he’s angry…’

‘Isn’t that all men?’ Waverly chuckled. They enjoyed the joke for a moment. ‘I was terrified of Nicole when we met and I found out who she was… then I thought about who she was apart from that… as that’s just it, it’s only a part of who he is.’

Wynonna took the advice in and found herself enjoying it. ‘Who knew you’d become such an expert eh?’

‘It’s a mantle I’d happily give up…’ at this, Wynonna placed a soothing hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. ‘But I did learn something out of all of this…’ Wynonna’s eyebrows rose in anticipation. ‘She still loves me and that’s what’s driving her insane. Because despite everything she says and everything she does, no matter how much she lies to herself and me…’ she reached into her bag and pulled out a book - the one that had contained her photograph. She had swiped it when she left Nicole’s apartment. Slowly, she opened it to reveal, it was full of photographs, all of Waverly. Some were untouched, but most had been scribbled over, defaced or crumpled up. ‘… I’m all she can think about…’

 

 


	21. Nightmares

Untouched by clouds, the sky was filled with the light of the moon as the town slept silently. All seemed quiet and still, except for the movement of two mysterious figures ghosting between the trees. All in black, they moved as if floating, the leaves and twigs remaining undisturbed beneath their feet. Upon reaching the edge of the wood, they looked down at the houses and their unsuspecting victims. Despite the black lace shrouds hiding their faces, the figures exchanged a knowing look before taking in a deep breath. In unison, they exhaled long and hard into the air. From between their lips, a blue mist darted and weaved its way towards the town.

 

Under the same moon, Waverly and Wynonna trudged their way through the graveyard. Out of the corner of her eye, the young witch watched as the young slayer spun her stake in her hand.

‘You’re avoiding the question…’ Waverly observed.

‘Uh huh…’

With a slight smirk, Waverly shook her head, ‘is it admitting it to me… or to yourself?’

‘Uh huh…’

Now Waverly chuckled lightly, ‘you’re hopeless…’ Wynonna opened her mouth to speak. ‘Don’t you dare say uh huh!’

‘Okay okay Waves,’ Wynonna laughed putting her hands up in surrender. ‘You got me.’

As their pace slowed, Wynonna and Waverly checked their surroundings. Finding them safe, they lent back against the closest grave stones. ‘So… why won’t you give him a chance?’

Wynonna appeared awkward, ‘… because of what I see you going through,’ she said gently.

‘It certainly wouldn’t make a good rom com,’ Waverly agreed. She shook off the unwelcome thought.

‘It would certainly be better than Twilight,’ Wynonna stated.

 

‘Anything would be better than Twilight…’ Waverly tittered before returning to the point. ‘There is a difference though Wynonna…’ she made sure she caught the slayer’s eye. ‘He has a soul.’

‘That’s what scares me…’ Wynonna admitted. To this Waverly frowned, duly noted by Wynonna. ‘It’s so much worse when someone with a soul hurts you.’

Waverly let this thought settled for a moment hoping it might ease her pain but as the vampire’s face flashed into her mind, she realised that still, nothing would. She chose to return her thoughts to her friend. ‘I don’t think he will… he’s literally fighting his demons for you. I think a lesser man would give into them.’

Blinking, Wynonna stared at Waverly surprised, ‘since when did you start sounding like a female Nedley?’

‘Been doing a lot of reading lately,’ Waverly told her. She looked down at her hands. ‘It’s a good distraction.’

Wynonna could sense the apprehension in her tone, ‘and… what exactly have you been reading about?’

The witch’s eyes remained on her hands, ‘Nicole’s soul…’

The answer brought tension to the slayer, however she knew any words of warning would fall on deaf ears. ‘Any luck?’

‘No…’ Waverly sighed. ‘It’s a spell that’s only ever been done once and those pesky knobgoblin Romanians certainly know how to cover their tracks.’

Wynonna couldn’t help but laugh, ‘without those knobgoblin Romanians… you would never have had a Nicole to love…’

Waverly’s eyes stayed sad, ‘maybe that would have been better…’

‘Ah…’ walking over to Waverly, Wynonna swung an arm around her friend and gave her a squeeze. ‘… come on… I think we need to hit things… thing with two pointy teeth and often not a morsel of fashion sense…’

‘Sounds good,’ Waverly nodded as they continued their tour of the cemetery as completely unknown to them, the blue mist breathed out by the two figures passed over their heads. It split into hundreds of tiny strands and dashed off to find its targets.

 

With a groan, Wynonna dumped the stakes onto the table along with the bag of weapons. Reaching up she rolled her shoulder trying to shrug off the pain coming from it. ‘Man… I’m glad I heal quickly… this hurts like a mother fu…’ She was stopped in her tracks as she heard a crash. Instinctively, she picked up a stake and began to move cautiously through the library. Having entered through the back, she first negotiated the tall shelves up on the first floor. Reaching the banister she scoured the library below her. All seemed quiet again. She lowered her stake until she hurt another loud bang coming from near the cage on the far right. ‘Okay… if you’re a demon, I’m really not in the mood…’ Wynonna called out as she descended the stairs. ‘It’s not every night I have to pop my shoulder back in…’ Her eyes fixed on the cage. A sheet was attached to the inside obscuring her view to see what could be trapped inside. One step at a time, stake raised, Wynonna slowly approached. ‘Let’s see what’s behind door number one…’ she breathed out as she leaned sideways to peer around the piece of material. She instantly regretted it the moment that she did. ‘Oh Jesus!’

‘Wynonna?’ came a cry from inside.

Hand clapped over her eyes Wynonna staggered backwards, ‘I’m sorry… so, sooooo sorry!’

From either side of the material, a very embarrassed Jeremy and Pete peered out, ‘what the hell man?’ Jeremy demanded.

Wynonna still didn’t look, ‘it’s a full moon tonight isn’t it?’

‘Uh yeah…’ Jeremy nodded. ‘Hence the sheet…’ he glanced at Pete, ‘… and other stuff.’ The naked pair were doing their best to keep their modesty.

‘And they say youngsters don’t know how to party now,’ Wynonna jibed.

‘Well you know…’ Jeremy shrugged smugly. ‘We do have to make the most of it.’

‘And… I shall let you do that…’ Wynonna said moving away whilst keeping her hand over her eyes. She paused for a moment. ‘The cage is locked right? Because I’m not coming over there to check.’

Pete reached a tentative hand out and gave the door and rattle, ‘all good…’

‘Oh thank god, ‘Wynonna breathed out continuing to walk away. ‘At least some of us are having some luck in love…’

 

As her feet crunched into the gravel, Waverly gazed up at the stairs. Once so beautiful, they now seemed a mess only adding to how overwhelmed she felt. The sky seemed as vast as her thoughts and the confusion tangled within them. Just as the constellations escaping her eyes, she couldn’t pick out a coherent notion as to how to solve her current predicament which was engulfing her so completely. Stuffing one hand into her pocket, she pulled out a Polaroid - one of those hidden in the book taken from Nicole’s apartment. It was of Waverly sleeping in her own bed. Taken from outside the window, it was clear that now she was unable to enter the house so Nicole had become contented with watching from the roof. Although it should have been disturbing, Waverly found it strangely comforting, especially as this one had not been defaced.

‘I’ll just take more y’know…’

Waverly didn’t look up at the comment. She should have known that Nicole would be waiting for her. ‘Just can’t stay away can you?’

‘Pretty hard to… when you’re this annoying little fly buzzing around my head,’ Nicole sneered. ‘All I have to do… is prefect the trap.’

Dejectedly, Waverly shook her head, ‘you’re only making this easier.’ She looked back at the photograph. ‘If I can’t cure you… I will kill you.’

To this Nicole simply laughed, ‘I’d love to see you try…’ She took a step forward, but Waverly was ready. She raised her hand as it began to glow red. It stopped Nicole in her tracks yet she did not show her fear. In its place came another laugh as she began to back off into the night. ‘Soon witch… soon.’

Waverly kept her hand raised and did not allow the glow to recede until Nicole was completely out of sight. Taking a deep breath to quieten her heart and sting within her chest, Waverly wiped the tears from her eyes. She hated that it was still making her cry. As her eyes returned to the photo, she hastily ripped it up and threw it to the floor in disgust. She checked that Nicole was definitely gone before plodding up the steps. What she saw on the door stopped her dead. A new Polaroid was stuck to it. It was just like the one Waverly had just dispatched, except the subject this time was Gus. Written on the bottom of it was one word… soon.

 

‘You’ve been practising,’ Doc chuckled as Rosita sunk another ball confidently.

‘Had a lot of time on my hands,’ she replied as she lined up another pot.

At this, Doc let a long slow breath past his lips, ‘and so much time you will have…’ Looking up from her cue, Rosita caught the despondency in his eyes. Doc did not like the sad look he received back.  ‘At least you will stay the vision that you are.’

After a smile, Rosita lined up the shot again… and missed. ‘You did that on purpose.’

‘What are you insinuating?’ Doc asked coyly as he moved around the table. ‘That my actions always have an agenda?’ Rosita decided not to answer this as Doc potted a ball skilfully.

‘How are you so good at this game?’ she enquired. ‘Until a few months ago… you were frozen for years.’

‘I’ve also had a lot of time on my hands since the moment you have just mentioned…’ he potted his last colour ball, ready for the black. He took his time, studied the ball and potted it easily causing Rosita to roll her eyes at her defeat. ‘I believe the next drink is on you,’ he grinned tipping his hat at her.

‘It appears I’m going to need a lifetime of practise to beat you,’ Rosita groaned as Doc approached.

‘Or at least… as long as you have the existence given to you.’

Doc’s eyes were sad once again. Something which did not escape Rosita’s notice. ‘It still bothers you.’

‘My dear… it’ll always bother me,’ Doc admitted. ‘Fate doesn’t deal in good fortune… not at least when it comes to you and me.’ As they gazed into each other’s eyes the two understood their equal frustration. They had worked so hard to preserve the love they had once had and now they had found each other again, their lives were once again tainted.

 

‘Gus!’

Terrified, Gus almost fell out of bed as Waverly burst in through her door. ‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph girl… you almost gave me a heart attack,’ she gasped clutching her chest. Waverly barely noticed as she tore across the room and took Gus into her arms. ‘What is it?’

‘I just…’ Waverly breathed out. ‘… I was just so scared…’

‘About what darling?’

Waverly longed to share her worries but she did not want to needlessly frighten Gus, ‘just be careful… wherever you go, whatever you do… please be careful.’ As Gus felt Waverly hold onto her tighter, she realised there was no need for more words. Instead she gripped onto the young girl knowing that she only wanted to feel safe.

 

Greeting the library and the morning with a yawn, Nedley stirred his tea before glancing over at the cage. The sheet remained in place and all was quiet. He walked over and placed his mug on a table so that he could unlock it for the two figures sleeping inside. As he did so, something caught his eye on the morning’s newspaper. Simultaneously, he picked it up and unlocked the cage as he narrowed his eyes to try and read the headline. Once the cage was open, Nedley was able to fix both eyes on what lay in front of him.

‘What the…?’ confused he rubbed his eyes and tried again, but nothing had changed. None of the words made any sense to him. It was as if it was written in a completely different language. Taking a seat, Nedley placed the newspaper down and took a few moments to collect himself. ‘It’s a dream… all a bad dream…’ he rubbed his eyes again, blinked and attempted to read once again. To his bewilderment, he was greeted with exactly the same result. ‘This cannot be happening.’

‘Ahhhhhh!’ the cry caused Nedley to almost fall out of his chair. Whirling round he saw something he did not expect. Standing in front of him were two werewolves, in full sunlight.

‘Oh my god… who the hell are you?’ Nedley screamed trying to scramble away. In his haste, he fell out of his chair onto the floor. ‘Don’t hurt me!’

‘No… no…’ cried one of them rushing over with very human mannerisms and even more confusingly, Jeremy’s voice.

Nedley paused for a moment and studied the werewolf from the floor, ‘Jeremy?’

‘Yes…’ the werewolf nodded.

‘And Pete!’ said the other.

Nedley looked between the two, ‘… I must have fallen and hit my head… really hard…’ he said bringing his hand to his hand hoping to feel a bump.

‘No… it’s us…’ Jeremy pleaded. ‘We just… we haven’t changed back!’

‘Yeah I can see that…’ Nedley nodded steadying himself back in his chair.

‘What the hell is going on?’ Pete asked. ‘I mean… this isn’t natural…’

‘I wouldn’t say anything about our situation is natural… even without this,’ Nedley stated. He turned away from the werewolves and look back at the paper which once again was nothing but complete gibberish. ‘But I will agree… that something even more unnatural is going on here…’

 

Twitching his moustache, Doc slowly opened his eyes. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the sunlight pouring in through the window onto the couch on which he slept. With a groan, he sat up and attempted to rub the hangover out of his forehead. It wasn’t until he inhaled deeply to greet a new day that he realised where Rosita had fallen asleep. Across from him, she slept peacefully in the other chair completely doused in sunlight.

‘Jesus!’ Doc cried jumping to his feet. ‘Rosita!’

Sleepily, Rosita opened her eyes, ‘what is it?’

‘You need to move before you burst into flames!’

Looking down, Rosita saw exactly what Doc meant as she saw her arms lit up by the morning’s rays. ‘Oh God!’ Promptly, she flew off the chair patting her arms as if expecting them to be on fire, however they were not. In the shade, it was something that had not escaped her notice. ‘Wait a minute…’ Tentatively, she inched forward and held her hand out to the sun.

‘Rosita… what it hell’s name are you doing?’ Rosita did not reply, she simple continued forward until her entire hand was basked in sunlight and it did not burst into flames. Doc stared at it stunned. ‘Well that’s interesting…’ Still with no words, Rosita stepped forward until her entire body was in front of the main window. Doc’s eyes widened as he observed, ‘very interesting…’

Soaking in the rays, Rosita closed her eyes expecting to feel their warmth on her skin but strangely, she did not. ‘Has the sun changed in all these years?’

‘Not to my knowledge…’ Doc frowned. ‘There is something else at work here.’

Rosita turned to him, ‘then why can’t I feel its warmth?’

His brow still furrowed, Doc crossed the room so that he was also in the sun’s rays, ‘they don’t feel warm to me either… this is very peculiar indeed.’ He examined Rosita’s skin then slowly brought his hand up to her face. ‘Your beauty is all the more overwhelming in its glory…’ Then, as he went to the place his thumb on her cheek… his hand simply when straight through her face as if she wasn’t there. ‘What in the blazes…?’ He tried again with the other hand but once again, he could not feel a thing. Once again, his hand went straight through her head and out the other side. Bewildered, the two brought their hands together. The same result ensued as they passed through each other. ‘Why can I not touch you?’

‘I don’t know,’ Rosita replied just as confused.

Behind her, Doc spotted his gun on a small table. He marched over to it and went to pick it up, however just like Rosita, his hand passed through it and the table below. Rosita also tried to pick up or touch anything she could find only for the same outcome.

‘What in the devil’s name is this?’

 

The curtains doing their job, the sun was being kept at bay outside Wynonna’s window. Only a small streak made its way into the room just beyond the bed. At the sound of a bird’s chirp, Wynonna’s eyes flickered open. After letting her eyes adjust to the light she glanced at her clock and saw that it was only a few minutes before her alarm. Begrudgingly, she slapped down on the top of it to prevent it going off then swung her legs out of the bed. As she walked towards the bathroom, one hand covered the yawn whilst the other ran its fingers through her hair. It was only when she drew the hand from her yawn that she felt something was very different. In the middle of the hallway she stopped wondering if she had felt what she thought she had. Both hands rose to her mouth allowing her fingers to connect with two sharp points. Frightened, the slayer began to shake. From her teeth, her fingers travelled up her face to her forehead and there she found the grotesque form that she had looked upon so many times. Breathing deeply, Wynonna tore into the bathroom and stood herself in front of the mirror, but just as expected with any vampire… there was no reflection.

 

As her eyes flickered open, Waverly looked upon the photo of Gus which she had pinned to her notice board. She had decided to keep it despite its sombre message in the hope it might help her to finally understand what she had to do. If she could not find the cure to the curse… Nicole would have to be killed. There was only so much more of this she could take. Running a hand through her hair, Waverly swung her legs out of bed with a deep breath. Time to crawl through another day. It was only when she had thrown on her robe that she saw the picture pinned to the inside of her bedroom door. From a distance, Waverly assumed it was herself but as she drew nearer she saw the subject of the drawing; it was the same as the photo, again with the word, soon.

Panicked, Waverly ripped it off the door, ‘Gus!’ There was no answer. ‘Oh my god…’ Waverly threw her bedroom door open and tore down the hallway to Gus’ room. ‘Please Gus, answer me!’ In the room, there were clear signs of a struggle and there was no sign of Gus.

 

‘This can’t be happening… this cannot be happening…’

Whilst Jeremy paced back and forth in the library, Nedley was picking up every book he could find to see if he could read any of them but each one was tossed aside with the same result.

‘This CANNOT be happening!’

‘What will happen is you being thrown back into the cage, if you do not shut up!’ Nedley cried slamming the book in his hand down on the table. Jeremy stopped pacing and stared at Nedley in shock. It was rather bewildering for the now illiterate human to be glaring at two werewolves standing harmlessly in the middle of his library. ‘I’m sorry…’ he sighed. ‘I just… reading is my life… and now that I can’t… I just don’t understand…’

A crash and a bang from the back of the library interrupted Nedley’s train of thought. The three look at each other a little startled. Quickly, Nedley went to his office and reappeared with his trusty crossbow. Behind him, Jeremy cowered behind Pete then upon seeing Pete’s fur he realised the form his was in.

‘Do you want us to…’ Jeremy asked Nedley gesturing up to the stairs.

Nedley caught on to Jeremy’s idea, ‘we might as well use it…’

‘Okay… I am a werewolf…’ Jeremy said to himself as he and Pete went in front of Nedley. ‘Not a scaredy cat human… I am a big, scary werewolf with big sharp teeth…’

‘You don’t sound very scary saying this like that…’ Pete whispered a little amused. ‘Maybe try growling.’ Jeremy did, it was pitiful. ‘Maybe don’t say anything or make any noises at all…’ To this Jeremy nodded as the three continued up the stairs towards the back of the library. It wasn’t long before they saw a figure lurking in the shadows.

‘Who are you?’ Nedley called his crossbow still raised behind the werewolves.

Slowly, the outline of the slight woman appeared and in the light became Wynonna. The three stared at her stunned. But none of them had time to react as the slayer reacted first to the sight of two werewolves standing in front of her. Swiftly, she grabbed the stake in her jacket and held it up to them ready for a fight.

‘No no… Wynonna… it’s me Jeremy!’

‘And Pete!’

They both held their hands up triggering Wynonna to pause complete perplexed. ‘Werewolves can talk now?’

‘It’s true… it is them…’ Nedley told her as he moved forward lowering his crossbow. His eyes were fixed solely upon Wynonna’s appearance. ‘Are you a…?’ There was sadness in his eyes and in his voice. Wynonna was stationary, horrified that Nedley had to see her that way. It wasn’t until she saw the tears building in Nedley’s eyes that she realised what he assumed. ‘When did this…’

‘Oh no…’ she said placing a hand on his arm. ‘Nedley… I’m not dead…’

His eyes lifted immediately, ‘what?’

‘I’m not an actual vampire…’ she brought his hand to her neck. ‘See I’m warm… and I have a pulse…’ Nedley began to breathe again in relief. ‘I just look grotesque.’ Nedley didn’t speak, instead he placed his hand to her cheek still feeling elated that he had not failed his slayer. ‘And what the hell is going on with the big bad wolves over here?’

‘We have no idea,’ Pete replied. ‘We woke up like this…’

‘Me too… I woke up like this too,’ Wynonna added.

‘And do you know what else is weird,’ Jeremy went on. ‘Nedley can’t read anymore.’

Wynonna looked at Nedley, ‘it’s true… I’m literate in at least six languages and I cannot read any of them.’ He rubbed his forehead. ‘My life is over…’

‘Er… at least you still look human!’ Jeremy cried.

Nedley went to reply but a scream from outside of the library back in the main halls caught all of their attention. As a group they hurried down the steps to the library doors and peered out. It was absolute chaos. There were children and teachers running around; some were even on the floor crying.

‘What the…’ Wynonna breathed out.

It was then that she focused in on Mercedes who was by her locker. Her hair was an absolute mess and her clothes were all mismatched and certainly not the latest fashion. With tears rolling down her eyes she was desperately trying to brush all the knots out of her hair but every time she did, it only seemed to create more. Behind Wynonna, Pete and Jeremy were loving the sight and laughing away happily.

‘Oh my god…’ Jeremy tried to say between his hysterics. ‘That’s got to be her worst nightmare…’

At least, Wynonna’s eyes became wide. ‘Oh my Elm Street… that’s it.’ The other three looked at her confused. ‘This is my worst nightmare… becoming a vampire. Nedley… what’s your worst nightmare?’

‘That I can no longer read…’

‘And ours is that we don’t turn back from being werewolves,’ Jeremy added.

Wynonna glanced back out of the windows to see a young man running around in just his underwear, another girl being chased by a clown and a teacher screaming as spiders crawled all over him. ‘We’re all living our nightmares.’

‘This must be some sort of spell…’ Nedley agreed.

They all looked at each other nervously as one through overcame them. Wynonna did like their expressions at all. ‘No… we can’t think that,’ she asserted.

‘How can we not Wynonna?’ Nedley said gently.

‘Because this one doesn’t make sense… and she was laying off magic for a while…’ Wynonna replied whilst deep inside, she was sharing the same worries as the others. ‘No… I have to believe that Waverly didn’t do this…’ she glared at them. It was all the more menacing in her vampyric form. ‘You all do too! We have to find out who actually did this.’

‘Where is Waves?’

‘Good question,’ Wynonna acknowledged.

 

Relieved that she could still walk in the sun, Wynonna scampered up the steps of Waverly’s porch and into the house. It wasn’t long before she found Waverly sitting and crying on the sofa. So keen to comfort her friend, Wynonna forgot her appearance.

‘Waverly…’ she said causing Waverly to spin round and scream. ‘No… Waves…’ She put her arms out in front of her to prevent an attack as Waverly reached for one of the pokers beside the fire. ‘It’s me… it’s Wynonna!’

‘That’s vampire Wynonna would say,’ Waverly cried back holding the poker out in front of her.

Wynonna looked at it a little amused, ‘you know that won’t kill me… if I was a real vampire…’

‘It would certainly hurt!’ Waverly snapped. ‘And why do you look like that if you’re not a real vampire?’

‘Because something weird is going on,’ Wynonna told her still keeping herself on guard from an attack.

‘What do you mean?’

‘It seems like we’re all living some sort of nightmare…’ Wynonna explained. ‘I’ve woken up looking like this… Nedley can’t read and Pete and Jeremy haven’t turned back from being werewolves after last night…’

Waverly’s eyes went wide, ‘they’re still werewolves… it’s day?’

‘That’s what I mean by weird. They’re them… not ravenous beasts looking to tear our throats out… just in werewolf form, like they’re wearing costumes. It’s kinda amusing actually…’ Waverly kept the poker up, it was clear that she was no convinced. ‘Okay look…’ Wynonna walked over to the window and put her hand into the sun. It did not burst into flames as a real vampire’s would. Slowly, Waverly lowered her weapon. ‘Just the damn face, which I can’t change back…’

‘It’s your nightmare to turn into a vampire?’

Wynonna nodded, ‘to become the one thing I am destined to fight… I hate irony and here it is, slapping me in the face… and what’s even worse, I can’t see just how bad it is… that’s the one thing this whole vampire thing has going on, no reflection.’

Waverly wasn’t listening, instead she was thinking over the new information as she looked at the drawing of Gus, ‘it’s my nightmare that something would happen to Gus… especially because of Nicole…’ Standing by her side, Wynonna studied the drawing. ‘She’s gone Wynonna… I think Nicole took her…’

‘How?… Nicole can’t enter the house… we put the barrier back up…’

‘That’s why I was so confused…’ Waverly agreed. ‘But if this is some spell… maybe the rules have changed.’

‘Then we’re in a whole lot of trouble…’

 

Behind the wheel, Wynonna stared out at the chaos raining over the town. There were people wandering around lost, some running away from what was chasing them and some just sitting on the floor crying. Next to her, Waverly also studied the scene bemused.

‘This is insane,’ Waverly breathed out. ‘Who could have done this…?’ Wynonna adjusted her hands on the wheel awkwardly and Waverly caught her meaning instantaneously. ‘You thought it was me?’

‘Well you do have a bit of a track record…’ Wynonna answered carefully.

Waverly’s face relaxed slightly but she still slumped back in her seat. ‘Fair point… but I’d like you to believe me, just a little bit.’

‘I do Waves… I just…’ She trailed off as her attention was something else, far in the distance on a hill overlooking the town. Wynonna brought the car to the stop as she stared at two black figures, floating above the ground. ‘What in the woman in black… are those?’ Waverly leaned forward on her seat to get a better look. ‘Maybe we should tell them there’s no Broadway here.’

‘Do you think they could be behind this?’

‘Well I’ve never seen them before… seems like a bit of a coincidence that they’re here when all of this is going on,’ she gestured around her and to her face.

‘Help!’ A man banged against the passenger side of the door causing Wynonna and Waverly to jump in their seats. ‘Please help me!’ He begged. ‘They’re trying get me!’

‘Who is?’ Wynonna called to him.

‘The rabbits!’ he cried looking behind him. ‘They’re going to eat my brains!’ He didn’t wait for an answer as he continued running pursued by a huge swarm of white rabbits. Astonished, Waverly and Wynonna watched as he ran down the street and out of sight.

‘You can be afraid of rabbits?’ Waverly asked. ‘But… they’re so cute…’

‘Maybe it’s the teeth… and big back legs…’ Wynonna tried. Waverly glanced at her dubiously. ‘No you’re right… only weirdos are afraid of rabbits…’ the slayer remarked as she put the car into gear.

 

‘Let me go first…’ Wynonna whispered moving in front of Waverly in the tunnel. The door loomed ahead. Waverly had been here many times before yet now it held such a different meaning. ‘Oh I’m going to enjoy this…’ With plenty of power, Wynonna kicked the door in sending it scattering across the floor into Nicole’s apartment. She moved to go inside but an unexpected invisible barrier stood in her way. ‘You have got to be kidding me!’

‘What is it?’ Waverly asked from behind her.

‘I can’t enter…’

‘What do you mean?’ Frustrated, Wynonna demonstrated by punching her hand against the barrier. Waverly watched as it glimmered like water at the point of impact. ‘But… Nicole isn’t alive…’

‘Guess whatever the hell this spell is has well and truly moved the goal posts.’ She looked around inside the apartment. ‘You’re going to have to go in by yourself…’ Waverly moved forward but Wynonna stopped her. ‘Be… careful… if you get into any trouble, I can’t help you.’

Waverly nodded and moved past Wynonna into the apartment. Each step she took was quiet and careful. Her eyes scoured every part of the room around her before she continued anxiously into the bedroom, petrified of what she might find. All she found was an empty room. There was no sign of Nicole or Gus anywhere in sight.

‘They’re not here…’ Waverly told Wynonna as she reappeared. Then something caught her attention on the table. As she approached, her eyes fell upon a number of new Polaroids scattered all over the table. The moment her eyes could make out the pictures, all the inside air escaped from her chest. With shaking hands, Waverly picked them up. ‘Oh my god…’

In the doorway, Wynonna craned to see what Waverly had found, ‘what is it Waves?’

Tears were now rolling down Waverly’s face, ‘I… she… Wynonna.’ Her voice was desperate and chilling. She threw all but one photo back on the table and returned to Wynonna. Passing through the barrier she handed it to the slayer. As soon as she saw it, her vampire form showed the same expression of terror as Waverly’s human one.

‘We might be too late…’ Wynonna said with her voice shaking.

‘This really is a nightmare…’ Waverly breathed out as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

‘But it could be reversed Waves,’ Wynonna said searching for hope. ‘If this is a spell… we can undo it.’

‘What if it doesn’t?’ Waverly sobbed holding up the photo. ‘What if this is for real?’

Wynonna stared at her friend, the same worries were circling her mind, ‘we have to trust that it will.’ Their eyes met in the same desperation. Wynonna knew her infliction was nothing compared to the one that Waverly was currently suffering. ‘We have to trust that it will.’

 

Feeling useless, Nedley sat back in his chair has he watched the bizarre sight of two werewolves researching what could have caused their current predicament.

‘Anything?’ Nedley asked a little hopelessly.

Jeremy looked up from his laptop; he was struggling to use it due to having claws instead of fingers. ‘Not yet my man…’

‘Nothing!’ Pete cried slamming his book shut. In a sudden rage, he took the book in his paws and ripped it into shreds with a frustrated growl. Nedley and Jeremy watched speechless. After a few moments the werewolf calmed and looked down at the mess he had made. ‘That… that wasn’t me…’ he stammered. ‘It was like something took over…’

Jeremy stared at him, ‘it was the werewolf…’

Suddenly, Nedley sat up in his chair, ‘I can’t see!’ he cried. He began flailing his arms around in front of him.

At his cry, Jeremy jumped up off his chair and went over to examine Nedley’s eyes, they were completely gazed over. He was blind. ‘It’s getting worse…’ Jeremy realised. He turned back to Pete. ‘Which means… you and I will soon turn back into our werewolf selves.’

‘Oh sh…’

‘Okay… please tell me that you are making progress with the research!’ came Wynonna’s voice as she ran in closely followed by Waverly who was patting her down. Wynonna threw herself to the floor in a shady part of the library. She and Waverly worked together to put out the last little fire burning on Wynonna’s arm until only wisps of smoke remained.

‘You’re turning into more of a vampire…’ Pete stated. ‘Oh this is not good…’

‘What’s going on?’ Nedley asked looking around from his chair.

‘What’s the matter with him?’ Wynonna asked getting up and dusting herself off.

‘I’m blind Wynonna,’ Nedley declared angrily.

To check, Wynonna walked over to him and waved her hand in front of his eyes. ‘This really is getting worse… have you guys found out anything?’

‘Nothing,’ Pete growled. Instantly, he clapped his paws over his mouth. ‘Sorry… it’s getting worse for us too.’

‘We don’t have a lot to go on Wynonna,’ Jeremy told her returning to the laptop.

‘Well this might help…’ Wynonna said. ‘On our way over here, Waves and I saw two ghostly black figures up on the hill overlooking the town… could they have anything to do with this?’

‘Two black figures?’ Pete repeated.

‘Yeah… like the woman in black has found her twin sister…’ In a dog like style, Pete dug through the books all over the table until he found one. He took it in his mouth and brought it over to Wynonna. She took it unimpressed due the saliva now encasing it. ‘Thanks… now… sit…’ she pointed to the chair behind him. Pete did as he was told. She flicked through the pages until she found a drawing of the exact figures she had seen. ‘This is them!’ she cried. She placed the book down on the table so they could gather around to have a look. All except Nedley. ‘They’re called the widows… witches that remain dormant until the year arises that they can raise their demon husband from his grave… this demon has two wives… that’s a little greedy…’

‘Carry on Wynonna…’ Waverly snapped as she thought of Gus.

‘Sorry… they’re looking for three seals… if they find the seals and break all of them, Clootie will rise. They have until midnight. They put a spell on the town to cause chaos so they can achieve their mission without being interrupted. If they find and break the seals before midnight, Clootie will rise and we will be stuck in our nightmares… forever…’

‘Well… hells fire and damnation!’

Startled, the group whirled round to see that Doc and Rosita had joined them into the library. ‘Where the hell did you come from?’ Wynonna demanded. ‘I didn’t hear the door…’

‘Yeah… the thing about that…’ Rosita walked over the door and passed right through it and then back again to re-enter the library. ‘We seem to have a problem…’ she looked around the group, at Nedley’s eyes, Wynonna’s vampire form and the two werewolves now beginning to pant and growl more readily. ‘… as do all of you.’

‘You’re… ghosts?’ Waverly asked. ‘How is that a nightmare?’

‘It was our greatest fear to die… especially back in the day…’ Doc explained as he thought it through. ‘And now that we’ve found each other again… we can’t touch… my definition of a nightmare if there ever was one.’

‘Well now we’ve found out what’s causing it… we can work to undo it…’ Waverly pointed out. ‘It’s not my nightmare to lose my magic… so I’m going to assume that I can still do a spell to reverse this.’

‘Okay… new research everyone… we know it’s these widows… now we just have to find their spell…’ At her word the werewolves and Waverly sprang back into action. Doc and Rosita however stood where they were. ‘Come on… everyone!’

A little annoyed, Rosita walked up to the table, ‘slight problem…’ she demonstrated that she couldn’t pick up a book or turn its pages.

‘Looks like we’re observers in this one vampire slayer,’ Doc agreed.

‘Yes… but not here…’ Wynonna said at a sudden idea. ‘We need to know if the widows have found any of the seals and broken them.’ She looked back at the book about the widows and scanned the words. ‘They’ll be on holy or scared ground. So look in any places that still stand or once stood holy or sacred…’

‘I knew this town like the back of my hand in my day…’ Doc smiled proudly. ‘The deed is ours to complete.’ He nodded then he and Rosita turned and ran out of the library without opening the door.

 

Sitting back in her chair, Wynonna found her eyes wandering over to where Waverly sat opposite her. Suddenly, she could hear Waverly’s heartbeat and the sound of the blood pulsing around the young witch’s body with it. Her eyes trailed the length of the Waverly’s slender neck and without any awareness of it, her tongue ran over her lips and her sharp teeth. The smell and sound was tantalising, so difficult to resist.

‘Got it!’ Waverly cried leaping up.

Relieved, Wynonna was shaken out of her trance, ‘the spell?’

‘Yes…’ Waverly nodded still reading the pages she had found. ‘I can do this… I can do this easily…’

‘Okay… tell us what you need us to do…’

‘Draw this on the floor,’ Waverly told her holding up the book to reveal the Wiccan symbol.

‘Oh cliché,’ Wynonna groaned.

‘Just do it,’ Waverly commanded as she ran into Nedley’s office to get the ingredients she needed.

Taking a piece of chalk from Nedley’s front desk, Wynonna began to draw the symbol on the floor. As she did so, she felt a strange and sudden feeling come over her, like she was being watched. Slowly, she rose to her feet and turned round to the face the door. There in the centre of the library was Dolls, forehead glowing, eyes ablaze and snarling between his gritted teeth.

‘I really need to go all Hiccup and train this dragon…’ she dropped the piece of chalk and began to make her way over to him. ‘Dolls… this isn’t real… you haven’t really turned…’

‘He doesn’t know that if this is his nightmare!’ Jeremy called over.

Waverly reappeared again and lay her eyes upon the sight of Wynonna approaching the demonised Dolls, ‘oh boy… not what we need right now.’ She hurried over to Nedley. ‘Nedley, arms out… you might not be able to see, but you can certainly hold things.’ Nedley did as he was told. Waverly picked up the chalk and finished the symbol on the floor. In the middle she hurriedly placed a candle and a small black pot.

Keeping her distance, Wynonna began to circle Dolls, ‘you can control this… this isn’t a nightmare… this is only a small part of who you are…’ It was clear that Dolls wasn’t listening to any of Wynonna’s words, he was too far gone already. Lunging forward, he took a swing at Wynonna but with her vampire and slayer reflexes, Wynonna shoved him back into some shelves causing them and all the books they held to come crashing down around him. ‘Hurry up Waves!’

Her hands shaking once again, Waverly took each ingredient from Nedley’s arms and placed them in the pot in the order and amount the book commanded. ‘Okay… come on Waves… you can do this…’ Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the Wiccan symbol as black smoke began to rise from the mixture in the pot. Unknown to her, Jeremy and Pete had suddenly become very interested in Nedley sitting helpless and appetising in the chair not far from them. The werewolf in them was well and truly beginning to take over and masking their human ability to control their hunger.

Standing in the middle of the symbol, Waverly raised her hands and began to chant the words written on the book but as she felt the magic begin to build inside her she suddenly stopped. ‘Wynonna!’

Wynonna’s eyes were truly fixed on Dolls who was beginning to get up, ‘bit busy Waves!’

‘But it’s my other nightmare…’ Waverly cried.

As Dolls got up, Wynonna shoved him back again so he hit the floor hard, ‘what is?’

Waverly looked at each of her hands as they began to spark red, ‘losing control of my magic!’

Fear rose inside of Wynonna realising that it was something that could easily happen, but she had to believe in her friend. She stared at Dolls, seething and spitting from his teeth. His eyes only showed contempt for Wynonna, ‘I believe in you,’ she whispered meaning it for both Waverly and Dolls.

‘Wynonna?’ Waverly whimpered.

‘I believe in you!’ Wynonna cried as Dolls got to his feet again. ‘You can do this!’

‘I believe in you too…’ Nedley agreed from his chair as he stared blankly ahead.

It was what Waverly needed to hear. She closed her eyes and began to chant again. She felt the magic rising and burning but she dug deep and did all she could to stave off what was building inside of her. The black smoke rising from the pot continued to build and spark as it began to fill the room and cover the ceiling. Just under its blanket, Wynonna and Dolls were engaged in full blooded fight as Wynonna tried to keep him away from the spell. She had to believe that the spell would reverse his current state also. In his chair, Nedley remained clutching the left overs of the ingredients Waverly had use willing her on and completely aware of the snarling and growling that was getting closer and closer to him.

‘Waverly…’ he whimpered. ‘Hurry up please…’

Now in a complete trance, Waverly no longer needed the book; the power was flowing through her naturally. When she opened her eyes again, they were black. She lowered her arms slowly and looked upon the sight around her, almost amused. The magic had taken over.

‘Oh wow… what a mess we have here…’ she chuckled to herself. As if another being, she studied her arms and body. ‘Except this… this will do very nicely…’

In between punches and kicks, Wynonna glanced back at Waverly and saw the unfortunate turn of events, ‘no Waves… no… you’re better than this…’ As Dolls landed a punch on her face, Wynonna fell to the floor but jumped up with a throaty growl. Horrified that she had made the noise, she clapped her hand over mouth then deflected Doll’s kick. She was now petrified. ‘You have to be better than this.’

In her place, Waverly continued to hold out her hands and laugh as she revelled in the power surging through her body, her eyes thick black and fixed. She loved the sight of the desperation around her.

‘I always knew you would be bad,’ came a new voice. Whirling round, Waverly’s eyes fell upon Gus… who was now a vampire. Gus snarled delighted, ‘now we can both be bad together…’

‘Oh no…’ Wynonna breathed out as she spotted the sight just in time to deflect another attack from Dolls. She had hoped the Polaroid had lied but in its reality, she feared it would tip Waverly over the edge.

The sight however had the adverse effect on Waverly. Somehow it tapped into the human girl that still remained within. Shaking her head furiously, Waverly fought away what had taken over and the black eyes disappeared, replaced with those that showed just how distraught she was. ‘Gus?’ Her eyes welled up as her nightmare was realised. ‘Who did this?’

‘I think you know,’ smirked Gus walking round in front of Waverly, but keeping to the shadows. Sunlight still spilled in through the library’s high windows.

‘Nicole…’

‘She’s so much fun your ex-girlfriend… we’ve had such a good day together,’ Gus went on. ‘I never knew being dead would make me feel so alive!’ Waverly found herself breathing in and our more heavily as the rage flowed through her veins. ‘Now I no longer have to look after you… so whiney, so pathetic… poor me, Nicole this and Nicole that…’ her voice was cold and cruel as she spoke, absence the soul that made Gus who she was. ‘… no wonder she turned back being evil… so she no longer had to put up with all your pesky little issues…’

‘This isn’t you…’ Waverly grimaced tears streaming down her cheeks. ‘This is not you!’

‘Oh honey… this is the reality now… and you’re just going to have to deal with it,’ Gus laughed.

‘No!’ Suddenly, Waverly’s eyes went back again then, as if ten different voices were chanting with her, she recited the last of the spell. Without warning, in the most extraordinary explosion, black sparks and smoke flew out of Waverly’s hands and mouth. When they combined, a mighty pulse flew through the library knocking every one of their feet. Wynonna and Dolls were knocked apart, Pete and Jeremy knocked away from Nedley who also fell off his chair, and Gus was thrown backwards into the librarian’s front desk. In the symbol, Waverly collapsed to the floor exhausted and slowly lost consciousness.

 

‘Waverly…’ came Gus’ voice bringing her round. ‘Waverly… honey…’

Gradually, Waverly opened her eyes to see that all the black smoke had gone and she was lying in Gus’ arms on the floor. She looked deep into the human face looking down at her. ‘Gus?’

‘Hi honey, it’s me,’ she leaned down and kissed Waverly on the forehead. ‘We’re okay…’

‘I didn’t hurt everyone?’ Waverly asked looking around. ‘I didn’t lose control?’

‘No sweetheart…’ Gus smiled. ‘You saved us…’

Sitting up, Waverly looked around. By the doors, Wynonna was feeling her face as to her delight, she was no longer a vampire. Relieved, she held her hand out into the sun and it no longer smoked. Pete and Jeremy were in the cage frantically pulling on their clothes whilst Nedley was picking up any book he could and reading its contents with an elated laugh. With Gus’ help, Waverly got to her feet. She looked at her hands; they were no longer sparking or red. She had beaten it down.

‘You did it…’ Wynonna grinned walking over. She took Waverly in her arms and squeezed her tightly. ‘You controlled it Waves, like I knew you could.’

‘Thank you!’ came Nedley’s happy voice as he took Waverly into an embrace. ‘Thank you!’ he touched her face affectionately before returning to his books over the moon to be able to read them again.

A deep cough with the slight tinge of embarrassment came from the corner as Dolls cleared his throat and got to his feet. His forehead no longer glowing and his eyes returned to their deep brown, he glanced at Wynonna sheepishly. Wynonna however, was not angry and her expression softened as she turned to face him. This filled Dolls with hope as slowly a smile across his face and he took a step towards her…

That was until a sudden mighty crash against the door caused all of them to jump where they stood. ‘Oh hell’s damn-bloody-nation!’ came Doc’s voice from the other side. After a few moments, he and Rosita pushed their way through the door. ‘You reversed the spell then?’ he asked Waverly as he held his bleeding nose.

‘Is that what that was?’ Wynonna laughed. ‘You trying to run through the door?’

‘It was a handy perk,’ Doc nodded wiping the blood from his nose. ‘But we don’t have time for that… they’re coming!’

‘Who?’ Nedley asked turning to face him.

‘The widows… they’re coming here!’ he went on. ‘This is where the last seal is buried… under the school, under the library.’ The others all looked between each other and the floor in shock. ‘This school is built on old hallowed ground. Rosita and I heard them talking when we came upon them breaking the second seal in the church.’

‘Oh boy…’ Waverly gulped. ‘Gus… you need to get out of here…’

‘No, I’m not leaving you,’ Gus insisted. ‘I need to keep you safe…’

Waverly smiled lovingly at her guardian, ‘the best way to keep me safe is getting out of here so I don’t have to worry about you. You’ve seen what I can do…’ she held up her magic hands. ‘I’ll be okay.’ It was clear from her expression that Gus was not happy but with one last kiss to Waverly’s cheek she made her way quickly out of the library. ‘Right… what the hell do we do about these widows?’

‘I’m guessing this won’t be any good?’ Wynonna said holding up her stake.

‘No…’ Nedley agreed as he studied the book containing the valuable information. ‘But one thing will… and we have the perfect weapon for it…’

 

Crouched amongst the library furniture, the gang hid from their impending attackers. In the cage, Pete and Jeremy lurked holding weapons ready to fight; in the office, Doc, Rosita and Nedley stood ready with their weapons and underneath the tables, Wynonna and Waverly lay with their eyes fixed on the door.

‘What if this doesn’t work?’ Waverly whispered.

‘It has to… this has to prove that he isn’t living his nightmare…’ Wynonna replied not taking her eyes off the door. ‘… it has to prove that he can control this…’

Over by the door, just to one side, Dolls stood, shoulders tight and ready for action. A bed of sweat spilled down the side of his face as he readied himself. He wasn’t ready for this, or even sure if he could do it, but he had to try. He glanced at Wynonna, their eyes met. He could see the love and trust on her face and made him believe. He had to believe.

‘Is it just me… or has it got suddenly colder in here?’ Waverly asked as she could see her breath and shivered.

‘It’s them…’ Wynonna exhaled. ‘They’re here…’ She nodded to Dolls who nodded back nervously.

The library fell deathly still. The school was quiet again now the spell had been reversed. The group assumed that its occupants had slunk home trying to shake off the nightmares they had lived for that day. All was noiseless except for the light crackling on the windows as frost began to spread across them. It signalled the arrival of the widows. At the sight, Dolls took a deep breath. They couldn’t be far. In their places, everyone shifted apprehensively and gripped their weapons more tightly. It was almost useless for them to have weapons at all; as if the plan didn’t work… normal weapons could not kill the widows.

Suddenly the doors to the library were blown off their hinges and sent flying across the room. They crashed into the furniture under which Wynonna and Waverly cowered. ‘Now Dolls!’ Wynonna screamed as the widows floated into the room. Their faces covered by their vails, their true demonic form was hidden but they all knew the danger that these woman possessed.

With one deep breath, Dolls engulfed them in flames. Immediately, the widows began to writhe and shriek as their black lace dresses began to burn. Gradually, one by one the group came out of their hiding place to watch as the floating women thrashed and screamed in pain. Dolls’ forehead glowed once again and his eyes turned red as more flame continued to billow out of his mouth. For a second, it looked as if Dolls was buckling under the pressure and running out of strength, but he pulled himself back up and blew out the flames with more intensity. The widows could barely be seen through the fire; just two black shapes struggling for their lives. In moments, the screams and squirming died down as the widows were reduced to a pile of ash upon the floor. Silence then descended back down on the library. Once he saw this, Dolls stopped breathing out fire and began panting exhausted his forehead still glowing and his eyes still red.

‘Dolls…’ Wynonna said rushing forward. ‘Dolls… it’s me… you can do this… it does not own you…’

To her surprise, Dolls escaped the demon quickly as he coughed, ‘I know…’ he smiled his human form completely returned. ‘You made me believe that…’ Suddenly unaware of their surroundings, the two became completely lost in each other. Their eyes locked, Wynonna’s grip on his arms tightened as they leaned in for a sweet kiss. Wynonna snaked her arms around his neck as Dolls used his arms on Wynonna’s waist to pull her in closer. Next to Rosita, Dolls could not look. But everyone else looked on with their own smile. Just a few meters from them, lay all that was left of the widows.

A little embarrassed, Nedley turned away to talk to Waverly, ‘I’m proud of you…’ he said placing a hand on her shoulder. ‘For such a young woman, who has to carry so much, especially at the moment… you showed a lot of strength there.’ Waverly looked at him surprised. ‘I don’t think you losing control of your magic needs to be a worry anymore… you should always be careful… but believe in yourself… because we all do.’

Moved by his words, Waverly smiled through new tears as she watched him make his way to his office. It had been a difficult night for all of them she understood his need to reach for the whiskey high on one of his shelves. Her eyes then followed her left arm, down to the hand, which rested on the she had used for the spell. Closing it, she checked around her to make sure no one was watching, then placed the book swiftly into her bag.

 

‘Well I don’t know about you…’ Gus sighed as they traipsed up the gravel road towards their house. ‘But after all of that… I need a strong drink…’

‘Gus…’ Waverly said stopping her pace.

‘Yes sweetheart?’ She turned to see that something was clearly on Waverly’s mind.

‘What did she do to you?’ Waverly asked timidly. She was terrified of the answer.

Gus studied her daughter and saw that it was question she had to answer but answer carefully, ‘what is it you need to know?’

Waverly swallowed before meeting Gus’ eyes again, ‘everything.’

‘You don’t want to know everything darling…’

‘Yes,’ Waverly insisted. ‘Yes I do…’

‘Okay…’ Gus took in a deep breath and walked back a little to meet Waverly who had fallen a few paces behind. ‘Nothing…’ Waverly frowned confused. ‘Nicole did nothing…’

‘But… but… you were a vampire?’

‘Yes, but not by her hand…’ Gus explained. ‘Nicole was living her nightmare… she was a vampire that cares, but without a soul to care with… it was torture for her. She wanted to kill me, so much but she couldn’t… because of what it would do to you… the ultimate conflict.’

Waverly was stunned. ‘What it would do to me?’

Gus couldn’t help but smile a little, ‘despite being a vampire with no soul… she is still completely in love with you Waverly… and she can’t stand it.’

Waverly wasn’t sure whether to be happy or horrified, ‘then who killed you?’

‘I don’t know…’ Gus replied thinking back. ‘That bit is all a bit of a blur… but it wasn’t Nicole, she actually tried to stop it. But someone called Bobo was in command… such a stupid name for a villain if you ask me.’ She chuckled for a moment. ‘Of course once I was changed, I no longer cared about Nicole or anything… it was rather lovely to be honest, not needing to care… no worries, no anxieties, vampires have it easy that way…’ she stopped as she saw the concern on Waverly’s face. ‘… but I would not change how much I love you for the world.’ She took Waverly in her arms and held her tight. ‘But I think Nicole would…’ she could hear Waverly sniffling into her shoulder. ‘It’s tearing her apart.’

‘I just don’t know what to do with that…’ Waverly sobbed.

‘It’s why I was reluctant to tell you,’ Gus admitted. ‘If it had been her that killed me… then I think it would make it so much easier for you,’ she pulled away and stroked Waverly’s hair. ‘This certainly complicates matters.’

‘It doesn’t change who she is,’ Waverly stated trying to find some resolve as she wiped her cheeks. ‘It doesn’t change what I need to do…’

‘Well whatever you decide,’ Gus smiled. ‘I’ll be right there with you.’ She leaned in and kissed Waverly’s forehead. ‘Come on… I think hot chocolate is in order… with many shots of something strong.’

‘I’ll follow you, I just need a moment,’ Waverly said.

‘Okay, don’t be too long,’ she squeezed Waverly’s cheek before turning and walking towards the house.

Waverly watched her go then reached into her bag and pulled out the spell book. She moved a little closer to the house so she could use some of the light from the one Gus had just switched on. Quickly, she flicked through the pages until she came across a spell. Gripping the book tightly, she almost couldn’t believe what she was reading.

‘You found it then…’ came a voice from the shadows.

Waverly held her breath as Doyle emerged, ‘Jesus… you cannot sneak up on people like that…’

‘I’m sorry, old habit,’ he said. He reached her side and looked over her shoulder at the spell. ‘I had a vision, a vision of someone finding a spell to ease a great pain… it was very cryptic and very painful… but I knew it was you. I could feel it you know.’ He stood opposite her again. ‘You sure you want to do this?’

‘Is it possible?’ Waverly asked. ‘Am I strong enough?’

‘Girl,’ Doyle smirked. ‘With what you’ve accomplished in such a short space of time, I think your power could do anything.’

‘But it’s dangerous?’

‘Did I say that?’

‘No,’ Waverly said shaking her head. ‘I can just sense it.’

Doyle’s face dropped to seriousness, ‘very dangerous… it takes great strength to return someone’s soul.’ He looked Waverly up and down. ‘But if you’re up for it, I’m game. I’ve already failed her… and you, I can’t walk away from this.’

Looking down at the spell, Waverly took a deep breath thinking about everything Gus had just told her. If it was true, Nicole was definitely worth the risk and definitely worth saving. She had to try.

‘I’m game.’

 

 


	22. When She Was Good

 

With an angry cry, the vampire was sent reeling across the cave. He hit the wall with a sickening crack before landing on the floor in a heap. Panting breathlessly, Nicole scowled at him as though he had done her a great wrong. Growling, Nicole moved to attack him again but Bobo took a step forward to effortlessly get in her way.

‘Now I know you’re a little annoyed…’ he soothed a little sardonically. ‘And I can understand why… but must you pick on the help?’ He gestured to the battered and bruised vampire straightening himself out as he crawled to his feet.

‘Ugh!’ Nicole snarled running both her hands over her head in frustration. ‘I just can’t breathe Bobo… she’s suffocating me.’

‘How?’ Bobo frowned clearly enjoying the opportunity to wind her up. ‘You have no breath my dear.’

‘Not literally!’ Nicole begun furiously until she saw the smirk on the man in the fur coat’s face. ‘You bastard… I’m living in hell and you can do is drive the heated poker further in…’

Casually, Bobo crossed the cave and took a seat in his chair, ‘it would help if you weren’t so in love with the young witch…’

Another irate growl escaped Nicole’s lips as she morphed into her demon form. This time more hatred and rage dripped from her lips than ever before. ‘I do not… love her,’ she declared.

‘My dear Nicole…’ Bobo said remaining calm. ‘Who are you trying to convince? Me… or you?’

In that moment, Nicole loathed him and everything he stood for as he sat there smirking delightfully. ‘I do not love her… and I’m going to prove it. Tonight, she dies… her and everyone she holds dear. I’ll kill them all and make her watch, then slowly… oh so very slowly… I will kill her.’ With a sweep of her long leather coat, Nicole revolved and marched out of the cave down one of the many exits.

Bobo’s face did not change, ‘whatever you say my dear Nicole…’ He remained completely unconvinced.

 

Sitting around Waverly in the library, Jeremy, Pete, Nedley and Wynonna stared at her in silence. They needed a moment to digest what it was that Waverly had just suggested. Jeremy was the first to speak.

‘So… we’re going… no… you’re going to do a spell that has been attempted one other time…?’

‘With a 100% success rate,’ Waverly pointed out.

‘I don’t think it counts Waves,’ Wynonna interjected.

‘I’d say it’s a good statistic,’ Doyle interjected from the library’s desk on which he sat.

Irritated Wynonna glared at him, ‘who asked you Jeremy from the future…’

‘Hey!’ Jeremy piped up.

‘Oh… that is totally you in the future,’ Wynonna argued. ‘Just look at his fashion sense…’

‘Can we get back on track please!’ Waverly cut in.

‘I promise you…’ Jeremy whispered to Pete. ‘I will not look like that in the future. If I do, I willingly let you shoot me with a silver bullet.’

Nedley sat forward in his chair. He took his glasses from his face and began to clean them signalling that he was about to approach a tricky subject. ‘This is dark magic Waverly… very dark magic… darker than anything you have attempted.’

‘I know,’ Waverly admitted feeling a little awkward. She knew they wouldn’t be jumping up and down with joy at the idea, but she hoped for a little more support that she was currently receiving. ‘But this is my only way to get Nicole back and to ensure that all of you remain safe…’ The group exchanged tense looks, it was unspoken but understood that there was another way. Waverly noticed it instantly. ‘We’re not killing her okay… I can’t.’

‘You don’t have to Waves,’ Wynonna said gently. ‘That’s kinda my job…’

‘No one is killing her,’ Waverly insisted firmly. ‘I’m not even entertaining that idea.’

‘But this spell could cost us you…’ Jeremy said with the worry clear in his eyes. ‘I know you can’t entertain the idea of losing her… but what about us? Maybe we can’t entertain the idea of losing you.’

Waverly looked deep into his eyes, she could see the love pouring out of him. Despite everything they had been through; all the years of the bullies picking on him and Waverly doing nothing, they were now the best of friends. ‘If she dies Jeremy…’ she told him through tears. ‘… you will lose me.’

‘Come on Waves, I don’t think…’ Wynonna started.

‘No!’ Waverly went on firmly. ‘You listen to me and you listen good… the only thing, the ONLY thing that has stopped the magic taking over me in those moments where I have had to fight it, is the thought that one day… maybe one day… I will get her back. You take that away from me…’ her voice quivered with the emotion spilling out. ‘… you will take away the fight, the magic will win… and I won’t care.’ She stared at Wynonna pleadingly, ‘please help me… so that doesn’t happen. Please.’

There were now tears in Wynonna’s eyes as she gazed back at her despairing friend. Quickly, she rose from her chair and engulfed Waverly in a tight embrace. Waverly clung onto her as she sobbed. ‘Okay… we’ll help you. I promise.’

 

_1907_

 

Thrashing the branches aside, Nicole burst out into the open, hoping to the find what had resided there only a few days before. Instead, all that was left was one lowly tent in the middle of the clearing and one in the far corner. Gasping for air she did not need, dishevelled and covered in dirt, the vampire staggered forward only to be greeted by a pointed wooden stick to her neck making her stop in her tracks.

‘Stay where you stand… vampire,’ seethed a gravelly voice.

Feeling the point against her neck, Nicole raised her arms in compliance, ‘I mean no harm…’

‘You’re a vampire… you always intend to harm,’ the young man continued.

‘No,’ Nicole said shaking her head. ‘I can’t… not anymore…’

The stick against her neck did not relent; ‘you’re the one…’ came his reply after a long pause.

‘Yes… I was here the other night…’

Keeping the stick in place, the young man walked round so that he was standing in front of Nicole. He looked her up and down with pure hatred. He pushed the stick into Nicole’s throat, causing her to wince in pain as it began to break her skin. ‘Then I have so many reasons to despise you…’

 

‘Ureka!’ Jeremy shouted jumping up from his chair.

‘Oh god please have clothes on,’ Wynonna breathed out as she was shaken from a slight slumber over her books.

‘I think I’ve found it…’ Jeremy grinned gesturing to his laptop. Waverly was already by his side looking at the screen. ‘… I think I’ve found the translation Waves… It’s not written in Romanian, it’s written in the old language of the Order of Thesulah… which is a form of Romani and Theban, one of the oldest Wiccan languages. Once you put the two together in the algorithm I’ve created, it’s simple really.’

In his chair, Nedley looked at the book in his hand and chucked it away on the table, ‘we really are losing the old arts,’ he sighed removing his glasses and joining the others by the laptop.

‘Okay… okay… this is good Jeremy,’ Waverly could not hide her excitement. ‘This is really good…’ She looked to Doyle for reassurance. ‘Will this work?’

Doyle crossed the library and had a look over the spell, ‘that looks very familiar to me.’ At this Waverly covered her mouth in anticipation.

‘Don’t get too carried away Waves,’ Wynonna said gently from behind her. ‘Have you seen the, you will need list…’ In unison, the group looked down the ingredients list. It wasn’t easy viewing.

‘What even is… an Orb of Thesulah,’ Jeremy asked as he read it. As he spoke, Nedley turned away rubbing his forehead. ‘… I recognise most of the other ingredients but that…’ he trailed off as he noticed that Nedley had moved away from the group.

Concern flooded over Waverly’s face as she followed him, ‘what is it?’

‘A problem…’ Nedley sighed as he sank dejectedly into a chair.

‘A big problem…’ Doyle agreed knowing what was going through the other man’s thoughts.

‘What kind of big problem?’ Wynonna pushed.

‘The… I know where the orb is and it’s never been successfully recovered problem…’ Nedley said not looking at them. ‘I thought it only a myth… but now it appears that there is some truth to it.’

Waverly moved after him and grabbed his arm desperately, ‘you are going to tell us aren’t you?’

‘My dear Waverly,’ he almost smiled. ‘I don’t want to, but I know that if I don’t, your determination and tenacity would only find out anyway.’

‘Too right,’ Waverly nodded.

‘So… how about you tell us about this problem…’ Wynonna enquired.

 

_1907_

Screaming, Nicole threw her head back as the young man threw more holy water on her chest and arms. Her dress had been ripped open down to her corset and the sleeves away from her arms which were now covered in raw angry burns.

‘Stop… please stop…’ she gasped through the pain.

‘Why?’ the man raged as he walked round her. Nicole sat strapped to a chair in the middle of a large but sparse tent. It was clear that whoever had resided there had moved on. ‘Are you actually asking me why?’

‘Yes…’ Nicole nodded desperately. ‘Because whatever I did, whatever hurt I’ve caused you… I am so sorry for it… trust me.’

The man just started to laugh. He removed his black hat and ran a hand through his greasy black hair before replacing the hat and marching over so he was inches from the vampire’s face. ‘Trust you? TRUST YOU? You are one of the most evil things to walk this earth.’

Heavy and weak, Nicole’s eyes tried to plead with his, ‘not anymore…’ she told him trying to ignore the searing pain all over her skin. ‘… I’m broken…’

‘No you’re not… you still stand evil.’

‘You’re not listening!’ Nicole cried as she struggled against her bonds. They were tied tightly with great skill. Usually it was something she could break through but this man knew how to tether down a vampire.

‘No… you’re not listening,’ in fury, he slammed his fist into Nicole’s face. A sickening crack filled the tent as Nicole grimaced and screwed up her face. As blood poured from the wound he had created, she turned back to face him. A move she would instantly regret. Once again, the man drove his fist into her left cheek as she sat helpless before him. This time she reacted the way he wanted her to. Unable to help herself due to the attack, in a defensive response, Nicole’s face morphed into the demon. ‘There…’ the man pointed out satisfied. ‘… you still have evil in you… and it’s that evil which has destroyed my family!’ Nicole had no time to brace herself as his foot connected with her stomach with such force that the chair to which was tied fell over and slid across the floor.

 

Having scoured the shelves in the back room, Nedley finally emerged clutching one of the largest books that the group had seen in his collection. When he brought it to the table, Nedley was unable to put it down with an impressive thud. Dust flew off its covers causing the group to cough for a moment before Nedley pulled the front cover open and flicked through the pages until he came to the middle. Inside were pages folded in tightly. One by one he pulled them open to reveal a large map. It was of Purgatory, but it was version that the group had never seen before. Like it had been tea-stained, the map was old and crumpled the lines simple and drawn in black or brown ink.

‘What’s this?’ Wynonna asked. ‘A treasure map?’ she looked suddenly excited. ‘Is there treasure in Purgatory?’

Nedley rolled his eyes at his slayer, ‘this is a map from when Canada was first discovered. Way back in the 16th century, people were already aware that people and animals were not alone on this planet… that something else lived in the deep dark reaches of the world. When the French came over and began to explore this country, they discovered that there was a particularly high amount of unnatural activity in this part of Canada… so expeditions were sent out to create a census of everything they found.’ He ran his hand over the map, showing how little sketches of demons had been drawn on the map, along with dates and brief descriptions of places. ‘Many perished, mainly due to the cold, but some to forces that could not be explained. When it was explained, most stories were not believed. Then there was one story…’ his hand stopped and his finger pointed to a cave system just outside of Purgatory. ‘… of a demon residing deep in the Canmore Caves… guarding a strange sphere that glowed without any power or light source.’ At this, the rest of the group’s attention was pricked as they finally saw what Nedley was getting at. ‘… since then, many have tried to retrieve this orb… but…’

‘None have succeeded,’ came Doc’s unexpected voice. He emerged from the shadows having listened to the whole tale. ‘I too have heard of such a place and such a treasure…’

‘Ha!’ Wynonna cried hitting Nedley playfully on the arm. ‘So it is a treasure map…’

‘Focus…’ groaned Nedley. ‘My dear girl… please focus.’

Grumpily, Wynonna folded her arms and scowled, ‘fun spoiler.’

‘I fear that I may also spoil your fun…’ Doc added. Wynonna along with the rest of the gang looked confused. ‘I am probably not wrong in the assumption that you wish to travel to these caves, take on this demon and retrieve the orb…’

‘No, you are not wrong,’ Wynonna agreed strongly. ‘That demon has my name on it… and soon my boot print.’

Doc smiled at her commitment, ‘it’s simply something I cannot allow.’

‘And why is it that may I ask?’ she demanded.

‘You are the slayer… you are far too precious… and you heard the watcher, no one has ever successfully retrieved this orb,’ Doc explained.

‘No one else was the slayer!’ Wynonna argued becoming extremely irritated.

‘Of which we only have one,’ Nedley said. ‘I don’t like it… but I think Doc might be right…’ he glanced at Waverly. ‘I know that you want to do right by your best friend, like we all do, but we cannot risk your life on this.’

Both Waverly and Wynonna looked dumfounded at what they were facing, ‘so please tell me then, who’s going instead?’ To this, Doc took out one of his guns, spun it expertly on his finger then returned it to his holster. ‘Oh come on… you?’

‘Indeed,’ Doc said tipping his hat.

‘This is one very powerful demon we’re talking about… and really really big,’ Doyle told him having heard the stories himself.

‘And you’re just a man…’ Wynonna almost laughed.

‘I am but a man, but also the greatest gun slinger that ever lived… do you remember that?’

Wynonna and Doc were now squaring off properly as they stood opposite each other, ‘why Doc… why do you want to do this so badly?’ she studied him. She could tell there was more going on than he was revealing. ‘This isn’t just about yours truly’s safety is it?’

Doc couldn’t help but chuckle, ‘nothing gets past you slayer…’ he looked a little nervous and awkward before he continued. ‘My reasons are that if Waverly is able to do this for Nicole, then she might be able to do this for…’

‘Rosita…’ Waverly finished. Their eyes met in an understanding. ‘You want to return her soul.’

‘Why?’ Wynonna asked. ‘She’s not trying to kill you and everyone you love like Nicole, in fact aren’t you two all loved up now?’ There was a little venom in her voice which she was struggling to cover.

‘She doesn’t love me truthfully Wynonna, she can’t… not without a soul.’ His eyes were sad and almost desperate. ‘I know that Rosita will never be human again… but with a soul, she will be more of the woman I loved.’

Wynonna was quick, ‘loved?’

‘I cannot truly love a woman without a soul…’

There was a moment of silence as everyone contemplated Doc’s offer and his reasons. They might have been, in part, selfish but completely understandable.

‘You sure you want to do this?’ Wynonna asked breaking the quiet.

‘It is a deed I am already set upon….’

‘You better be good with those guns,’ Wynonna challenged.

‘Oh my dear Wynonna… one day I will show you exactly what I can do with these guns.’  With one last tip of the hat, Doc looked amongst all of the other worried faces gathered before him. Then before any of them could stop him, Doc had crossed the library and was gone.

‘Good luck!’ Wynonna called despite knowing that it was too late, he was long out of earshot.

 

_1907_

A human would have coughed as a cloud of dust rose around Nicole as she fell to the floor; however the vampire just cried in pain as she landed awkwardly on her arm. She had resigned herself to her fate; she could tell there was no talking down this young man bent on revenge. Yet she still feared what was coming next as she heard his footsteps cross the tent towards her.

‘Dumitru!’ came the angry tone of an older man. The footsteps from the young man stopped. ‘What in God’s name are you doing?’

‘She deserves to suffer father,’ Dumitru shot back.

‘She is suffering…’ the father reminded him. ‘You were there… this is completely unnecessary.’

‘Not to me it isn’t,’ Dumitru spat insolently. Nicole could only listen to the pause between the two men as she remained lying on the floor still tied to the chair. The ropes were digging into her skin and the arm under her body throbbed horribly, but she knew to remain quiet. She had no place to speak.

‘We are not animals Dumitru,’ the father continued. ‘I thought I had brought you up better than this. She is the animal and we are punishing her for it…’

‘She should be dead father!’

‘No!’ Nicole heard a shuffle as the father grabbed hold of his son by the arms. ‘Death would be too easy,’ he said. ‘Then she would not be reminded of everything she has done… every evil act, every murder, every small moment of torture… she has to live with that every day… that is much more painful than death.’ As he spoke, the words sunk into Nicole like being stabbed over and over again. She could see them, all those moments, like that had opened only the day before. No face that she had hurt or killed was escaping her. She could remember them all.

Exhausted from emotion, Dumitur sank into his father’s arms as he began to cry, ‘but she’s hurt us father, so much…’

‘I know…’ the father agreed.

There was another pause, ‘maybe we should show her… add another face to all those that she has hurt…’ Nicole didn’t hear an answer; she could only assume the father agreed as the two pairs of the footsteps crossed the tent over to her.

 

Her foot tapping the floor incessantly, Waverly clasped her hands together and stared into the distance. Her heart was pounding beyond her control. After a few more minutes she couldn’t take it any longer and rose quickly from her chair piercing the silence that had fallen over the library.

‘Where is he?’ she asked the others gathered around the tables. ‘Why is it taking so long?’

‘Waverly…’ Nedley answered gently. ‘This demon has never been defeated… there’s a very good chance he will not return…’

‘I have to believe that he will…’ Waverly said clearly petrified of the truth. ‘… because without that orb…

‘Is essential to the spell,’ Doyle finished. ‘It cannot be done without it.’

‘If it’s so important, why didn’t you do with him?’ Wynonna snapped at Doyle as her worry took hold.

‘Wynonna…’ Waverly said.

Wynonna looked a bit sheepish, ‘sorry… I just, you’re here making so many comments, appearing out of nowhere… would just like to know what you’re doing to help this situation?’

Nodding, Doyle understood, ‘I am here to help in any capacity that you need me to. I found Nicole in one of her major hours of need and I failed her… when she turned. I should have done more to prevent certain events from happening…’ he glanced at Waverly uneasily who looked away from him knowing exactly what he was referring to. It still stung.  ‘I promised Waverly I would help her in this so I will do whatever you need me to… if your friend doesn’t return with the orb, I will go… it’s the least I can do…’

‘What this one?’ came the interruption.

In shock, everyone rose from their chairs as Doc staggered in bloodied and bruised. He was missing his hat, his coat was torn due to angry wounds all over his chest and his face looked more like one belonging to a boxer. In his hand he gripped exactly what Waverly was so desperate for… the Orb of Thesulah. Doyle couldn’t help but breathe a huge sigh of relief. He would have been no match for the demon.

‘Oh my god!’ Waverly cried running over to him. Instead of taking the orb, she ducked under his arm and wrapped it around her neck to help him over to a chair.

‘I’ll get water and a cloth…’ Nedley told them as he disappeared into his office.

‘Here…’ Doc winced out as he sat down. He held out the orb to Waverly as she untangled herself from his arm. ‘I do believe that this is what you need.’ Waverly took it carefully and admired it within her hands.

She then remembered what Doc had just put himself through and tore her eyes away from it, ‘I don’t know how to thank you…’ she whispered placing her forehead carefully against his.

Doc smiled at her uncomfortably due to the wound on his bottom lip, ‘just make sure you can do this spell… for Nicole…’

‘And Rosita,’ Waverly added.

‘Indeed.’

 

Approaching the house, Nicole could see that there was only one light on and it wasn’t Waverly’s. It was exactly what she had hoped for. Expertly keeping to the darkest shadows of the night, she moved around the back of the house and used her vampire abilities to easily spring onto the roof. Moving herself along silently, she passed Waverly’s room and stopped right outside the other occupied bedroom in the house. Peering around the frame in through the window, she watched as Gus sat in front of her mirror applying makeup. A sadistic smile spread over the vampire’s face. This meant that Gus would be leaving the house.

‘Once you step outside Gus Gibson…’ Nicole said to herself. ‘… you are all mine…’ She made sure that she was out of sight as Gus got up from the chair and crossed the room to her wardrobe. ‘It’s time to show Waverly exactly who I really am… no more Miss Nice Vampire.’

 

Grimacing, Doc glared at Wynonna as she attempted to clean his wounds. Nedley had refrained from doing so understanding that gun slinger would have found it a little strange. Instead, Wynonna gently mopped the blood from the cut on his forehead trying to dodge the eye contact Doc seemed so intent on making.

‘So… how did you beat the demon?’ she enquired wanting a distraction.

Doc almost chuckled to himself, ‘well… I could tell you a tale of incredible tactics and bravery… but alas… it was simply a game of what you people call… cat and mouse.’

‘Did you defeat him?’ Wynonna prodded.

‘Unfortunately, the opportunity did not arise…’ Doc admitted looking a little guilty. ‘I was simply too fast for him. I allowed him to chase me into the far reaches of the cave, then when I had enough time, I grabbed that orb and hot tailed it right out of there…’

‘Sounds like the wise choice,’ Wynonna smiled as she moved down to cleaning a cut on his neck.

‘Oh you mistake me Wynonna,’ Doc went on. ‘When I am healed… I very much intend on going back for round two…’ Wynonna looked a little confused. ‘The bastard ate my hat.’

Wynonna couldn’t help but laugh, ‘your head does look horribly naked.’

The joke caused the two to look eye contact. It lingered for a few moments before Wynonna used the excuse of having to clean the cloth. Doc studied her closely. ‘How is Dolls?’

Not turning, due to her surprise at the question, Wynonna cleaned the cloth thoroughly in the bowl of warm water, ‘he’s fine…’ she said uneasily. ‘… in fact, he’s running a little errand for Waverly right now…’

‘Another ingredient?’

‘Yes,’ Wynonna nodded turning, relieved the focus was back on the spell. ‘Pete couldn’t locate it in any of the magic shops around here, so I asked Dolls if he had heard of it.’ She began cleaning one of the wounds on Doc’s chest. ‘Turns out that it’s so potent, The Initiative have it under lock and key in one of their labs…’ Thinking of the task Dolls had undertaken she became distracted and pressed too hard on Doc’s wound. He winced in pain at the hard touch. ‘Sorry…’

He met her eyes as Wynonna’s hand lingered over Doc’s heart, ‘… it’s alright… takes a lot more than that to hurt me here… you should know that by now…’

‘Oh dark eyes… dark soulful eyes…’ Wynonna breathed out as she looked into them. She shook herself out of it quickly. ‘Nedley!’

‘What?’ Nedley called from across the room.

‘Can you take over please?’ Wynonna asked as she backed away from Doc. ‘I want to check on Dolls’ progress…’ She dropped the cloth into the water and moved away whilst fishing her phone out of her pocket. As requested, Nedley picked up the cloth and reluctantly continued as Doc examined him unimpressed at the substitution.

 

Perturbed at the sound of his phone going off in his pocket, Dolls ducked back into the corridor he was about to come out of. As quickly as he could, he pulled his phone out and answered it.

‘Never good to call a man on a task in a place where, if he’s caught, he might be killed on sight,’ he spat into the phone.

‘It’s called putting your phone on silent dipshit,’ Wynonna shot back. Dolls could only roll his eyes. ‘How are you getting on?’

Dolls peered out of the corridor at the door that he needed to reach, ‘well, this place isn’t crawling with as many agents as it used to be and for some reason, my code hasn’t been taken off the system… so my original plan to knock a guy out and steal his… not needed.’

‘Try not to sound too disappointed about that…’

‘Yeah well, it’s been a while since I got to hit someone…’ Dolls stated.

‘You reduced two witches to ash just last week,’ Wynonna reminded him.

‘Oh yeah,’ Dolls grinned. ‘That was cool.’

Wynonna smiled into her phone, she loved how happy he sounded after everything he had been through recently. ‘Just come back safe… with or without the ingredient okay…’

‘You better not let Waverly hear you say that…’ Dolls sniggered.

‘No… that’s just for you… over and out,’ she hung up immediately. She wasn’t used to romantic conversations and genuinely worrying about the wellbeing of another as much as she was about Dolls in that moment. She needed him to concentrate and be successful. If something happened to him, both she and Waverly would be devastated.

 

Having waited patiently in the shadows by the side of the house for over an hour, Nicole was relieved to hear that inside, it seemed that Gus was making her final preparations to leave. The lights were being switched off throughout the house and she definitely heard the rustle of keys. One side of her mouth circled up into a delighted smirk as she moved round towards the porch. As soon as Gus stepped outside the front door, Nicole could make her move. Then, just as she went to do so, a noise behind her initiated her to turn, only to be greeted by an arm full in the face knocking her out immediately.

When she came round, Nicole realised she was being dragged away from the house by one of her feet. ‘What the…?’ she couldn’t make out the figure pulling her. All she knew was that she was moving further and further away from her target. Glancing back, she could see that Gus had safely exited the house and was now getting into her car. ‘Hey!’ she cried out to her attacker.  With a strong kick, she was able to get them off and leap to her feet. Spinning, she could only watch in exasperation as Gus drove away. Gritting her teeth, she spun back to face the person who had foiled her plan. ‘You better have a really good reason as to why you just ruined my night…’ when she turned back, she was stunned to see who was standing in front of her.

 

As the library doors flew open, the gang all turned their heads to see a breathless Dolls stagger towards them. ‘Are you being chased?’ Nedley asked concerned.

‘No…’ Dolls gasped. ‘I just had to grab the ingredient… by hand…’ he raced over to the table on which the other ingredients lay. He opened his hand to reveal black berries which were burning into his skin.

‘Oh crap…’ Waverly gasped. Quickly, she picked up some tongs and took them from his palm placing them safely into a glass container which Doyle held carefully.

‘Oh thank you,’ he breathed out relieved.

‘And they didn’t come in a container or anything?’ Waverly asked a little bemused as she studied them.

‘Yes,’ Dolls said still trying to catch his breath. ‘… but it was fixed to the shelf in lab. I had no time to find something else as I heard agents approaching, so I had to grab them and get out of there.’

Waverly smiled at Dolls and placed a hand on his shoulder, ‘thank you…’

‘Of course…’ Dolls nodded. ‘We’re trying to do a good thing here… and you’ve never given up on me.’

‘An agent until the end…’ Wynonna cooed at him as she now tended to his hand. ‘… even after his badge and credentials has been stripped off him.’

‘Thank you for reminding me,’ Dolls joked as their eyes met. Over by the other table, Doc looked away. He thought the only feelings he had were for Rosita, but it appeared that some still lingered for the slayer.

‘So we have everything now?’ Jeremy asked as Waverly looked over what lay on the table.

‘Yes,’ she realised suddenly becoming slightly overwhelmed. ‘I think we do…’

‘I would say we’re ready,’ Doyle approved.

‘Are you absolutely sure you want to do this Waves?’ Wynonna asked.

Waverly looked nervous but resolute, ‘I have to… I have to try and get her back…’

Jeremy nodded in agreement, ‘just tell us what we need to do.’

 

‘Rosita?’ Nicole sneered.

‘Nicole…’ Rosita replied plainly.

‘Why are you protecting a human?’

‘I have my reasons,’ Rosita said.

‘Something your precious Holliday asked you to do?’ Nicole snarled. ‘Makes me sick how you care for him.’

‘We have no control over who we love Nicole.’

‘We can’t love you idiot,’ Nicole snapped.

‘Of course we can… why do you think you hate Waverly so much… it’s because you…’

‘Don’t say it!’ Nicole cried. ‘If you say those words, I will rip your throat out and not think twice about it. You might be a vampire Rosita, but you have done nothing of recent to deserve a place among us.’

Rosita remained calm and almost satisfied, ‘see how angry you become at just the mention of it.’ At this Nicole growled aggressively. ‘You could go after any human in this town… but instead, you chose to come here to kill Gus… You want to hurt her Nicole, because of how much she has got under your skin…’

‘She means nothing to me!’ Nicole insisted. ‘I want to punish her for how she made me feel when I had a soul… she almost made me… human.’ Disdain dripped from every word she spoke.

‘First step to recovery is admittance Nicole,’ Rosita continued. ‘I am simply not convinced.’

‘You will be when I kill Waverly…’

‘You never will Nicole…’

Fury built up inside the vampire as she glared at the other, ‘oh I will… just watch me…’ with a flick of her long leather coat, Nicole turned to leave but Rosita quickly moved round to block her way. ‘You better move Rosita… I will have no trouble killing you… I can assure of that. I really don’t like it when people get in my way.’

‘I’d like to see you try…’ Rosita smirked. As if her rage had telegraphed it, Nicole swung her fist to meet Rosita’s face but the other vampire was quicker and stopped her. Then with her other arm, Rosita thrust her hand into Nicole’s chest sending the red head flying through the air and landing a good few metres from where she had stood. ‘That’s the problem with you Nicole… you let your emotions take over far too easily.’ Without any more words, Nicole sprang to her feet and the two found themselves locked in an intense battle underneath the stars.

 

The complete absence of noise had fallen over the library.  Waverly stood alone in the middle surrounded by the ingredients which had been placed very deliberately around her in a circle. Their order and amount had been very much dictated by what the book had specified, which was now being clutched by Waverly’s hands. At her feet, the orb lay shrouded within a red cloth but glowing brightly enough that its presence could be seen through the fabric. Her eyes flickered over the spell one more time. She had rehearsed it with Jeremy using the translation that he had provided. Just for a moment she thought she had forgotten it all – too gripped by nerves. But one look from both Wynonna and Jeremy and their confidence in her filled her with the will to continue.

Once Waverly looked down at the spell, Wynonna leaned into Nedley, ‘why do I have a really bad feeling about this?’

‘Because this is powerful magic, one of the most powerful spells ever undertaken…’ Nedley replied quietly.

‘Okay… now I feel worse,’ Wynonna groaned. ‘I was looking for a pick-me-up there Neddles.’

Nedley dismissed the unfortunate nickname and rethought his answer, ‘Waverly is strong… I believe she can do this…’

‘Yeah,’ Wynonna nodded almost trying to convince herself. ‘She can do this…’

On his side, Doyle stared intensely at the young witch. This was the first time he had been frightened for a very long time. ‘Come on witch… this is your moment.’

After a long intake of breath, Waverly began. She read the words as though they were a language she had been speaking for years. ‘Quod perditum est, invenietur. Not dead, nor of the living, spirits of the interregnum, I call. Gods bind her. Cast his heart from the evil realm, Te implore, doamne; nu ignora acaesta rugaminte! Nici mort, nici al finite, lasa orbita sa fie vasul care- iva transporta sufletul la el. Asa sa fie! Asa sa fie! Acum! Acum!’

As he gripped the candle Waverly had instructed him to hold, Jeremy smiled proudly. Then after a slight glance from Waverly, he wiped it off his face and prepared to concentrate. He knew that this would only work if all them did exactly as they had been asked to do. It was time to get serious.

 

A ferocious growl filled the air as Nicole’s fist met with Rosita’s jaw sending the younger vampire spinning backwards but she skillfully managed to keep her footing. Blood now spilled from a wound on her lip, but it only infuriated her more.

‘Is that the best you can do?’ Rosita mocked. Both their faces had morphed into the vampires that they were. ‘My my, you are getting old…’

Angered by the insults, Nicole ran forward penetrating the night with another fist towards Rosita’s face, but this time Rosita was quicker. She grabbed hold of Nicole’s arm with both hands and twisted her body so that she could throw Nicole over her shoulder. Dust flew up from the ground as Nicole landed upon it. She lingered there only a few moments but jumping back up and turning to face her opposition.

‘I’m just waiting for you to get tired…’ Nicole snarled as she began to circle.

Arms raised, Rosita stared her straight back in the eye, ‘I never get tired Nicole… and anyway, I can keep going all night…’

‘Is that what you’ve been instructed to do?’ Nicole asked smelling a rat.

Rosita was unmoved, ‘as I said… I have my own reasons for being here…’

‘Yeah, and I bet his name starts with a D and ends with a C with an O in the middle…’ She laughed cruelly. ‘You are so pathetic.’

Still, Rosita remained unmoved, ‘why would he send me here?’

‘Oh I will find out…’ Nicole warned her. ‘First, I won’t kill you… I’ll torture you to get it out of you, then when I’m done with that, I’ll get Doc… let him watch as I slowly kill you… very slowly and very painfully… then, I’ll turn him, so he becomes just like Willa, wonderfully twisted and completely insane. One of my greatest triumphs. He’ll live for the kill… just like me.’

Now, Rosita’s lip trembled, ‘I’ll never let that happen…’

‘We shall see,’ Nicole let the moment hang between them as they stared at each other with pure contempt, before Rosita lunged forward and they began to exchange blows once again. Each one would have floored a human instantly.

 

Having recited the first part of the spell, everyone could see that the orb below the cloth had begun glowing much more brightly. Smoothly, Waverly bent down, uncovered it and picked it up. As she did so, the orbs bright yellow colour suddenly became reflected in her eyes. They were no longer her natural colour as she was truly connected to the spell. Soon the book was not needed; her natural abilities were allowing her to be in complete control of the spell as the magic began to flow through her. Her stance was stronger, her legs spread wide as she held the orb up in front of her. After another few lines, she nodded to Wynonna and Jeremy who stood either side of her. Immediately, the lit their candles and held them tightly with both hands. Only a few metres away, Nedley, Pete, Doc, Doyle and Dolls watched on tensely. They had no idea what Waverly was saying or if Jeremy had even translated the spell correctly. All they could do was watch and hope. Then suddenly, Waverly’s head dropped forwards and she became quiet. The rest looked between each other perplexed.

‘Waverly…’ Wynonna whispered. Nothing. ‘Hey… Waverly…’ She looked down and saw that she was standing outside the circle of ingredients which was imperative. She knew that one step could interrupt the entire spell, but the welfare of her best friend was worth so much more. ‘Hey… Wav…’ She took a step forward but was stopped in her tracks immediately.

‘Do not cross!’ Waverly told her throatily. Her hand flew out and without touching her, put the slayer back in her place. Stunned by the response, she just stared at her friend who was now speaking with many voices and her eyes had been completely filled with burning yellow light. To her relief, Waverly continued with the spell, holding up the orb to the air, speaking with more fervency and meaning. ‘Quod perditum est, invenietur. Nici mort, nici al finite, te invoc spirit al trecerii.’

 

With an almighty cry, Nicole picked up Rosita and slammed her on the ground. The battle was finally taking its toll as the two were covered in blood and bruises from their vicious exchanges. Rosita screamed out and found that she could not flip herself back up as Nicole had placed a foot on her throat and was holding her down. Rosita grabbed it and tried to shake it from her body, but Nicole was unyielding and was not going to be moved this time.

‘See… I always win…’ Nicole sneered. Keeping her foot in place, she leant down and picked up a stick lying on the ground. She held it in both hands and placed it on Rosita’s chest, right above her heart. Rosita stared up at her pleading and desperate. ‘… see the power that I have… I could just kill you now…’

Although she wanted to, Rosita knew that she wasn’t going to give in, ‘I’m not going to beg Nicole… I know that’s what you want…’

‘Oh no?’ Nicole laughed. ‘Even if it means you never get to see your precious Doc again? The man that is making you an embarrassment to all vampires.’

‘I’m an embarrassment?’ Rosita retorted despite the shoe still very much on her neck. It certainly wasn’t depriving her of air as she needed none. ‘You’ve lost your game Nicole… all you can think about is Waverly this and Waverly that… your old self would have dispatched her weeks ago. You’ve gone soft…’ as she spoke, Nicole seethed more and more with anger. ‘…. You are not even twice the vampire you used to be… and the whole demon world is laughing at you…’

Unable to control herself, Nicole roared into the night and raised the stake… then just as she brought it down, ready to plunge it into Rosita, she stopped. It was as if she had been shot in the chest. Holding it, she dropped the stake and fell off Rosita onto the floor. ‘What the…?’ she gasped out in agony.

‘About time Waverly,’ Rosita said under her breath getting up.

Nicole looked round at her, ‘Waverly?’ Rosita didn’t need to reply. Nicole’s eyes widened in horror. ‘No… no… no… no…’ Fighting the pain, she pulled herself to her feet and tore across the field into the night.

 

_1907_

Hands still bound behind her back, Nicole was dragged from the tent across the clearing across to where another tent stood. It was clearly occupied due to the fire that was burning brightly inside. Nicole recognised the tent; it was the one behind the Sharman that had cast the spell that returned her soul only a few days before. Upon approaching, Nicole could hear disconcerting sounds coming from inside, growling, crying and groaning as if someone was in great pain.

Once just outside the tent’s doorway, the two men paused, ‘now you’re going to see the true cost of your wicked and depraved existence,’ Dumitru hissed through his teeth. Nicole looked deep into his eyes. Beyond the anger, she could see great pain and loss – something she was sure she had caused. ‘I wanted to kill you tonight, but my father is absolutely right… you need to see this… another face to add to all the other victims that you now have to live with every second of every day.’

‘I’m so so sorry…’ Nicole pleaded.

The apology made no impression on Dumitru at all, ‘oh… you will be,’ he seethed before pushing the tent door aside and throwing Nicole inside.

 

Inside the circle, Waverly continued to hold the orb up high, reciting more lines of the spell. The ingredients around her and also begun to glow so that she was surrounded by a yellow circle of brilliant light. Her eyes still shone brightly, full of light and power. She was in complete control of the spell and it was working. Slowly, she brought the orb down and held it in front of her chest and looked at the library doors as if she knew someone was coming. She was right. Her mouth curled up into a smile as Nicole burst through the doors groaning and writhing in pain. Everyone else turned round in shock to her unexpected entrance.

‘Waverly!’ Nicole pleaded as she fell to the floor. ‘Stop!’

Jeremy looked worriedly at Wynonna, ‘what do we do?’

In truth, Wynonna wasn’t sure herself, ‘just stay put… Waverly’s got this…’

The two looked back at Waverly who was completely impassive by Nicole’s arrival; in fact, it seemed to be spurring her on. She stared beyond the orb right into the vampire’s eyes.

‘Gods, bind her, cast her heart from the evil realm,’ she spoke, slowly and deliberately in the tune of a dozen voices. All the time, Nicole remained on all fours as the pain completely overtook her. Her begging was falling on deaf ears. ‘Let her know the pain of humanity, gods. Reach your wizened hands to me… give me the sword…’ Once again, she began to lift the orb, feeling what was required rushing through her. ‘What is lost, return! Not dead, nor not living… spirits of the interregnum, I call!’

 

_1907_

 

Wiping the dirt from her face, Nicole looked up and saw where the pained noises had come from. Lying upon a bed in the middle of the room with his wife standing over him was the Sharman. He was a changed man from the one Nicole had encountered when she endured the spell. His frame was shrivelled; his skin pale and eyes clouded and grey. Remaining on her knees, Nicole stared at him dismayed.

‘Your spell did this,’ Dumitru barked at her. ‘… his mind is lost… lost to the darkness.’ Nicole did not turn, she simply stared at the disturbing sight before her. ‘He thought he was strong enough… but it took its toll.’ Enraged by the lack of her reaction, Dumitru stormed forward, grabbed hold of Nicole’s hair and forced her further forward to see could see the distress in the Sharman’s face as he continued to fight of the magic within him. ‘He’s probably too far gone… there may be no saving him. All because of you.’ Nicole tried to strain against the hold upon her. If she wanted, she could easily overcome him, but her new conscience was holding her back. Instead she stared at the man in front of her. A mere shadow of what he had been. ‘He will probably die… the magic he used was simple too dark and powerful,’ Dumitru continued in her ear. ‘I want you to remember his face… for all eternity and the pain you have brought upon this family.’ In disgust, he threw her to the floor and marched out of the tent past his father. On all fours, Nicole could only focus on the floor, but she forced herself to look up at the man on the bed. Dumitru was right, she had caused this. She had killed the Romanian girl, prompting the Sharman to do the spell and now due to its sheer power, he was also lost to them forever.

 

‘Waverly!’ Nicole screamed one last time before she collapsed to the floor.

At this moment, Waverly thrust the orb into the air and her head threw itself back. ‘Let the orb be the vessel that will carry her soul to him… return to the body what separates woman from animal. So shall it be with the help of this magic crystal globe… So shall it be! So shall it be! Now!’

As soon as the last word was uttered, Nicole brought her head up and her eyes glowed with brilliant bright light and she began to gasp as she collapsed once again. This lingered as though she was trapped in the moment, frozen in the spell. Then everything fell silent. The circle around Waverly stopped glowing and the orb reduced in its excretion of the light as the witch brought it down slowly. All the attention was now on Nicole. Still gripping their candles, Wynonna and Jeremy watched along with the others as Nicole collected herself. No longer in pain, she pulled herself to her feet and looked around her. Just by the look on her face, the group could tell it had worked. Her brow was gentle and her eyes were soft. All the pain she had forgotten over the last few weeks was back.

‘Nicole?’ Doyle asked his heart filling with hope.

‘Oh wow…’ Wynonna breathed out.

‘It worked?’ Jeremy asked still unsure.

His questioned was answered as Nicole looked straight ahead of her at Waverly and appeared immediately distressed. ‘Waverly?’ her voice was full of love and devotion once again, but also great concern.

Turning their heads, Wynonna, Doyle and Jeremy looked at Waverly and instantly saw what was upsetting the newly souled vampire. Waverly stood between them with a malicious smile upon her face. Her eyes were completely black.

‘Waverly?’ Jeremy asked breathing deeply. In the next second, Waverly had waved her arm sending Wynonna and Jeremy flying in opposite directions across the library. Wynonna clattered into Dolls, Doc and Nedley whilst Jeremy landed on Doyle.

‘Oh no…’ Nicole gasped. Unlike the others in the room, she had the memory of the Sharman’s fate.

‘What’s the matter love?’ Waverly smirked admiring her body and arms. Her voice was cold and unsettling. ‘I feel incredible…’ she looked at the others as though she was studying her victims. ‘Now I can really have some fun.’

The magic from the spell had been too powerful for the young witch and had taken over. Waverly was gone.

 

 


	23. When She Was Bad

 

‘Waverly…’ filled with trepidation, Nicole took a step forward. Waverly’s expression hadn’t changed. Cold and calculating. It studied the person walking towards her with no feeling. She was almost amused by Nicole’s approach. ‘Baby… it’s me…’ The vampire’s voice was soft and affectionate. The soul had been fully restored and it was aching. Still, Waverly’s face did not change as Nicole took another step. ‘… if any part of Waverly can hear me now…’ Nicole continued. ‘… please know that I’m back and I love you… you have to try and fight this thing…’

At this, Waverly let out an unnerving cackle which filled the library. Having picked themselves up from the floor as Wynonna and Jeremy landed on them, the others watched on mortified at the turn of events. None of them knew what to do so could only let Nicole proceed with her attempt to reach Waverly. ‘Oh you poor thing…’ Waverly laughed evilly. The form before them looked like Waverly, had her voice but did not sound anything like the young woman they were all so fond of. ‘You think Waverly is still in here?’ Nicole stopped walking. ‘… Waverly Gibson is gone… or at least, no part of her is in control anymore.’

Tears welled where they had not for weeks as Nicole stared at the form which looked like the girl she loved, eyes still black and face so malevolent. ‘… but she’s still in there?’

Waverly’s face dropped to sullen, ‘… not if I have anything to do with it…’

‘Please…’ Nicole begged. ‘Please… let her go…’

Groaning, Waverly craned her neck and placed her hands on her hips, ‘bored now…’ with one swift flick of her arms she sent Nicole reeling back and simultaneously, pinned the others to the edge of the room. Smoothly and steadily, she walked out of the circle of ingredients still remaining on the floor. With another outstretch of her arm, she removed the library doors by blowing them completely off their hinges. As the group watched horrified, they could hear the doors clattered down the school corridor before finally coming to rest. They could do nothing but observe as Waverly walked calmly out of the library and out of sight.

It was only a few moments later, that Nicole was back on her feet and scrambling after her. ‘Nicole… Nicole… no,’ Wynonna warned stepping in the way.

‘Get out of my way,’ Nicole cried trying to move past.

‘What are you going to do?’ Wynonna asked her. ‘Something really evil has wormed its way inside Waverly and clearly, we cannot fight it!’

‘I’m not just going to let her go,’ Nicole argued becoming very distressed. ‘I did this… I have to fix it!’

‘There’s a lot of things you need to fix…’ Wynonna shot back a little coldly. ‘You can’t do it if you’re dead.’

Nicole stared into her eyes. She knew she could not argue with this point. There was so much she had done. She remembered it all and could feel the guilt churning inside her, but in that moment, there was only one thing that mattered. ‘I can’t just let her go like that…’ Nicole told her firmly. ‘If I die… call it my penance. But I have to try and save the woman I love… just like she just did for me.’ Wynonna could see the determination in Nicole’s eyes and realised she didn’t really care if Nicole died. However, if Nicole could do something to retrieve Waverly, she wasn’t going to stop her. Without anything else to say, she stepped aside and watched with the rest of the group as Nicole tore out of the library and down the corridor.

 

Running at full speed, the cold night wind in her hair, Nicole watched as a car was lifted off of the road and thrown across the street until it rolled and smashed into a shop. Glass shattered and sprayed into the air to the sound of creaking metal. All around, people were running and screaming as chaos fell over Purgatory; with some appearing to be badly injured. Nicole wished she could help; but her thoughts were solely on reaching the cause of the mayhem. Turning the corner, she saw her. Standing in the middle of the road, Waverly was playing with objects like they were toys. It took no effort to pick them up and throw them around. It was terrifying to behold. However, even as motorbike whistled past her head, Nicole did not stop walking forward.

Turning, Waverly’s black eyes fell upon Nicole, ‘oh… you…’ looking sideways her eyes fell upon a large trash can. With ease, she used her powers to pick it up and send it flying in Nicole’s direction. Her reflexes intact, Nicole hit the floor and rolled just in time for it to miss her and clatter its way down the street. Indifferent, Waverly looked for another object, this time a bench and sent it towards Nicole. Once again, Nicole dodged its path and managed to get a little closer. When another missile missed, the first sign of irritation could be seen on Waverly’s face. ‘You’re becoming quite a nuisance now…’

‘Waverly?’ Nicole tried again. ‘Baby, are you in there?’

‘Sorry…’ Waverly snarled. ‘Waverly isn’t home right now… you might want to come back later.’

The idea that Waverly was completely gone was a concept that Nicole not even begin to entertain. ‘… you’re stronger than this Waves… whatever this is, you can beat it.’

‘She’s not strong,’ Waverly taunted. ‘I beat her so easily.’

‘No…’ Nicole said resolutely. ‘Not my Waverly… she’s the strongest person I know.’ When there was no response, Nicole hoped that she might have got through, even just a little. ‘… you are not going to take her, do you hear me? I have to save her… I will put this right…’

The pause continued as Waverly appeared to study Nicole intently. There was no emotion on her face at all, no sign that Nicole had got through at all. This lingered, the question hanging in the air. Nicole soon had her answer. ‘Bored now…’ With another swift motion, no object sailed in her direction; instead it was Nicole who flew through the air. Limbs flailing helplessly, she screamed out as she smashed into a brick wall, splitting it in pieces. When she fell to the floor, the bricks rained down all around her, burying her under the rubble. Waverly stood for a moment, checking that her work had had the desired effect. Nicole did not move. With a nasty smile, Waverly dusted herself off and continued to walk down the street.

 

‘What the hell was that?’ Wynonna asked as the others tried to come out of shock.

‘I don’t know,’ Jeremy said holding his arm where he had hit the floor. ‘But it certainly wasn’t Waverly…’

‘Wow, one hundred points to Einstein over here,’ Wynonna snapped.

‘Wynonna,’ Nedley said gently…

The tone was enough. ‘Sorry,’ Wynonna said. ‘I just… what the hell was that!?’

‘I knew the spell was too strong,’ Nedley sighed looking down at the broken circle with the orb of Thesulah lying in the middle. He walked forward and picked it up. ‘She was the best of us.’

‘Much better than me…’ Jeremy said sadly.

‘So much better than you,’ Nedley agreed. Jeremy couldn’t help but nod.

‘My God and hell fire,’ came Doc’s unimpressed voice. ‘Will you listen to yourselves!’ They all looked at him surprised. ‘What would Waverly say if she could hear you right now?’ They exchanged bemused expressions. ‘Look at me… I bested a demon where no other had been successful before and do you know why?’ They looked blank. ‘Because that little lady believed in me… and she believed in this spell. She believed in Nicole. She is one powerful force of good and I cannot believe that we are giving up on her so easily.’

‘Did you not see that?’ Wynonna contended back. ‘That was no Practical Magic… we’re talking full Blair Witch project here… that was something truly evil.’

‘Then go and stand in a corner then!’ Doc spat back. Wynonna blinked; stunned both at his reply and film knowledge. ‘Or we can fight, like we know Waverly would.’

‘She’s right…’ Nedley said still holding the orb. ‘If it was one of us, Waverly would already have us scouring the books and surfing the waves of the net…’

‘It’s just surfing the net…’ Jeremy corrected.

‘Right,’ Nedley acknowledged. ‘My point is…’

‘We have to do everything we can to get her back…’ Wynonna finished.

‘Absolutely,’ Nedley approved.

Pete stepped forward as the other’s nodded. ‘Where do we start?’

 

Shrouded in darkness, Waverly enjoyed slipping through the shadows down a side street. She had left the commotion behind her and was in search of something different. It wasn’t long before she found it. At the end of the street lay one of the magic shops in town. The door was locked but this was no obstacle for her. With one wave of her hand, she broke the door of its hinges and proceeded inside. Being late at night, the shop lay silent and still with no one within. Examining every object as she passed, Waverly finally made her way to the back where shelves stood lined with books. In front of them was a large table where Waverly positioned herself. She moved her fingers through the air and within seconds, all the books from the shelves were stacked on the table before her. Without hesitation, Waverly plunged her hands into the books and soon all the words and spells written upon their pages were seeping out of them and being soaked up. The words and numbers drained from the pages and washed over Waverly’s hands and arms.  Waverly grinned and moaned with pleasure as she felt her magic growing. When she was done, every single book and page lay empty.

‘Who are you?’ came a confused voice from a doorway behind her. Her hair now as black as her eyes, Waverly whirled round to see the petrified shop keeper staring at her. ‘What are you doing in my shop?’

Waverly didn’t speak. Holding her hand out and without touching her, Waverly took hold of the old lady’s throat and began to squeeze. Gasping the old lady clawed at the invisible force that was choking her. To test her power even further, Waverly lifted the elderly lady off the ground and held her in the air. She dropped her arm, testing to see how much she could do with her mind. Soon, the woman hung motionless in the air having taken her last breath. Waverly smiled pleased and let her go. The lady fell to the floor with a sickening thud.

Outside in the street lights, Waverly’s changed appearance was even more apparent. As well as her eyes and hair, her lips were now black and unattractive black veins covered her face showing just how the magic was taking over her body completely. If Waverly was inside, she was being truly beaten down. When a safe distance away, Waverly turned back to face the magic shop and just with her eyes she ignited the entire place so that within seconds it was completely ablaze. ‘I’m ready…’ she smirked to herself.

 

Nicole’s long absence had not gone unnoticed by the group. Reluctantly, Wynonna sped down the road searching for some clue as to where Waverly and Nicole might have gone. Finally, she spotted the pile of bricks and the tiny piece of leather coat sticking out from under it. As she approached and began to move the bricks, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to find Nicole dead or alive. When the last few bricks had been moved, Wynonna found that she was surprisingly relieved when Nicole moved and opened her eyes.

‘Waverly?’ Nicole groaned as she held her head where a nasty wound bled.

‘Sorry to disappoint,’ Wynonna replied helping her up.

‘Where is she?’ Nicole asked looking around desperately.

‘Hey hey… calm down,’ Wynonna said grabbing hold of the vampire’s arm to prevent her running off. ‘She could be anywhere… and clearly you cannot take her on.’

It was a relief to Wynonna to see the feeling that had returned to Nicole’s eyes, it was clear once again, just how much she loved Waverly. ‘I can’t let her carry on like this…’

‘Why not? There’s nothing you can do Nicole.’

‘There has to be something!’ Nicole cried maddened.

‘You might not be able to fix this… and you running after her, will probably just get you killed.’

‘I can’t just sit here Wynonna!’

‘Why not?’ Wynonna asked again more enraged. ‘Why can’t you, after everything you’ve done, just work with me on this… for once!?’

‘Because I know the guilt she’ll have to live with…’ Nicole told her sadly. Wynonna’s face mellowed instantly. ‘I know you hate me… I know you’d much rather have killed me than have Waverly do that spell… and now she’s…’ She looked into the night as she tried to gather herself. ‘… I’ve done it Wynonna, for over 100 years, lived with every face that I ever hurt and killed. Waverly is too good to ever have to cope with that. It’ll destroy her.’

Wynonna found herself nodding, ‘I do hate you,’ she said honestly. ‘I do wish I’d got to kill you instead of Waverly doing that spell…’ Nicole knew she no right to be upset by this. ‘But this is the situation we’re in right now and, man this hurts, I need you. I need you to be on your A game. I need you to put aside all your guilt crap and think about how we can constructively get Waverly back… can you do that?’ Nicole stared at her clearly frustrated by the request. ‘Nicole… can you do that?’ Pained, Nicole looked up the street in the direction she thought Waverly had gone. She could so easily run off and lose Wynonna, but the slayer was right. This wasn’t about Nicole’s remorse wanting to put this right. If they had any chance, they had to work together. Grudgingly, she nodded and followed Wynonna down the street in the opposite direction back towards the school.

 

_1907_

Still bound and on her knees, Nicole staggered to her feet so that she could look the Sharman in the face and see his pain. She could see now that his hands and feet were bound as he struggled against his tethers. In between deep hoarse breaths, he snapped his teeth as though an animal trying to bite in defence. It was a horrific sight to lay eyes upon. The guilt gripped Nicole’s chest so tightly she had to brace against the anguish.

‘What did this?’ Nicole asked the woman that was mopping the Sharman’s forehead with a cool towel. She did not reply. Seeing that there could be a language barrier or pure hatred preventing the woman from talking, Nicole resumed her attention on the man. ‘What has done this to you?’

Suddenly, the man stopped writhing and became strangely still. His eyes grew wide and moved to fix upon the vampire. He smiled, showing black and grey teeth. ‘In their wake… I shall rise…’ he spoke in a deep chilling voice. ‘He is the vessel… but I am the commander. His demise shall be my victory…’ Nicole met the eyes of the woman across the bed from her. It was clear from her bewilderment that this was the first time she had heard the words.  ‘The demise of all shall be my victory!’ Without warning, he began to thrash about on the bed with more ferocity. It caused the woman to flail away backwards but Nicole remained steadfast where she was. ‘Their souls will be mine and I shall command all… I shall have victory!’ With his continuous thrashing, the Sharman managed to break loose one of the binds holding him.

‘Mother!’ came the cry from Dumitru’s father. ‘Get out of here!’ He reached her to help her run out of the tent with terrified cries. However, power from the Sharman as he broke his other hand loose, sealed the tent shut.

‘Release me!’ Nicole cried to the petrified man and woman. They stared at her astounded at such a request. I will protect you, I promise.’ She held out her hands as the man and his mother exchanged nervous glances. Then as the Sharman pulled one of his feet free, they knew they had no other choice. Taking a knife from his pocket the man cut the rope binding her hands. After shaking off the rope, Nicole stood between them and the Sharman who was not free of all his bonds.

 

Sitting in a chair as Jeremy cleaned the wound on her head, Nicole’s mind was drifting back, trying to remember the encounter which had happened so many years ago. Her mind had become fixed upon it, like she knew something within the memory was significant. All around her, the others talked and stressed about how to research what had just happened but she shut them out, closed her eyes and thought back.

 

‘Mother!’ the man cried as the Sharman threw her across the tent like a rag doll. She landed on the floor in a heap and did not move again. Enraged, the man saw red and ran at the Sharman, but with his new possession, this was ill advised. Soon he too lay on the floor having drawn in his last breath. Aggrieved, Nicole stared at their still bodies. She had said she was going to protect them. The failure stung like the holy water she had endured just short while before. Upon hearing a twig snap, she spun to see that the Sharman was upon her. She reacted just in time to grab the man and wrestle him to the floor. His power was weakening. Using all the strength she had, Nicole managed to pin the Sharman to floor by the throat. As if a creature of the undead, the man writhed and snapped his teeth.

‘Again… I am so sorry,’ Nicole told him hoping that the man within might be able to hear her.

The creature just laughed as Nicole’s strangled hold was having no effect, ‘he can’t hear you… I am in command now.’ Just then, a glint of something caught Nicole’s eyes. It was the man’s knife. It had fallen from his pocket and was now lying just within reach. The conflict within Nicole was unbearable. The thought of taking further action would be against everything she now felt with her soul… but she could see that this was also a man in pain. Keeping one hand in place, Nicole reached out and took up the knife. Gripping the handle, she held it just above the man’s chest. ‘Please don’t make me do this…’

To her shock, the Sharman’s face changed to become softer and more human, ‘do it…’ came the Sharman’s strained voice. ‘…. You have to do it… if he takes full command… he’ll bring darkness to the earth.’ Nicole could see that she was now looking into a terrified person’s eyes. ‘I can’t hold him much longer… he’s too strong. You have to do it. Please.’ Nicole stayed her hand for a few moments, then with a pained scream, she drove the knife deep into his chest. The man below her gasped; she could see relief in his eyes. As his body became limp, she rolled off distraught at the blood on her hands. Soon the tent was filled with only dead bodies and the sound of her sobs.

 

‘The commander!’ Nicole cried jumping up from her chair.

Everyone whirled round to face her, ‘excuse me…?’ Nedley questioned.

‘He called himself The Commander!’ Nicole repeated. At everyone’s confused stares she continued. ‘This has happened before.’ She explained. ‘When the spell was first done on me. The Sharman who performed the spell, he was subjected to a similar possession… I had to kill him.’

‘A possession?’ Wynonna questioned.

‘I think so yes.’

‘Are you telling me that this isn’t an evil Waverly, but a demon or something inside of her?’ Wynonna checked. Nicole nodded. ‘Oh my god…’ The relief in the room was palpable.

‘If it’s the same thing…’ Dolls pointed out.  He was immediately answered with numerous glares. ‘Just saying…’

‘Well don’t,’ Doc snapped irritated. ‘Let the vampire expand her explanation.’

‘When it was in the Sharman, it said that he was the vessel and it was the commander and that it was going to bring darkness to the earth.’

Jeremy was already at his laptop typing, ‘The Commander…’ he said out loud as he did so. ‘Right yes… here it is.’ Everyone gathered around him to look at the screen. Nicole however remained out of the group, she could only listen. She had seen it all before. ‘It’s a hitch hiking demon. It only exists as a phantom until it can find a host with enough power. It usually resides and waits in places with a large amount of demonic activity and when it’s found its host it hitch hikes on the spell that host is casting.’

‘How did it know to choose Waverly?’ Wynonna asked. ‘Surely there are countless spells being cast all over Purgatory… we have enough Magic Shops!’

Jeremy read on trying to find the answer, ‘here… it can only hitch hike on the strongest of magic using the darkest arts… such as a spell only done once before in history…’ he realised.

‘Where it did exactly the same thing…’ Nicole added in. ‘These demons are tapped into the magic that flows throughout the world like nothing else before them. It knew the Sharman was going to do the spell on me… and then it knew Waverly was going to do exactly the same one.’

‘All magic in the world is connected. It flows through everyone and everything. She was doomed before she even began,’ Nedley breathed out.

‘Like Anakin and the dark side,’ Jeremy nodded.

‘Did you defeat it Nicole?’ Wynonna asked the vampire trying to rid her mind of the dire thoughts circling the others.

‘Yes.’

‘How?’ Nicole could not answer. Instead her face crumpled. ‘Nicole…’ Wynonna pressed. ‘How did you defeat him…’ Still Nicole did not answer angering the slayer. ‘Nicole! How did you…’ Doc placed a hand on Wynonna’s arm. ‘What?’

Doc studied Nicole closely, he knew. She swallowed at the discomfort of what he knew. ‘She had to kill the host.’

 

With a malevolent smirk, Waverly drained yet another victim of life as it fed her power. Once the man lay limp in the air, Waverly tossed himself and adjusted herself in her now black clothing loving the feeling of more power washing through her body and veins. She was barely recognisable from the girl she used to be. With a little adjustment of the shoulders, she continued her march out of town and up to one of the overlooking hills. Through her black eyes she examined the town as it remained in slumber as the early minutes of the morning ticked by. It wouldn’t be long before the sun would be rising and she would put the last of her plan into action. She then turned her back on the town and focused on something deep in the ground. Her mouth curled up as she felt its presence. Holding her arms out in front of her, she began to apply her power to the task. All around her the ground began to shake, right down to the town. From within the hill, a structure began to rise out of the ground spitting grass and soil as it ascended.

 

In the library, the group clung onto anything they could as the library shook violently around them. Dolls sheltered Wynonna as glass and tiles fell from the ceiling above. Pete and Jeremy cowered together underneath a table; Nedley braced himself within the doorway of his office, whilst Doc and Nicole tried to keep their footing very much exposed.

‘Do you think this is Waverly?’ Wynonna cried above the noise.

‘It would be a major coincidence if it was anything else,’ Dolls replied holding her tight.

Reaching up, Jeremy used only his arm to rescue his laptop to continue researching. ‘Really? In the middle of a freaking earthquake?’ Pete questioned stunned.

‘Clearly every minute counts!’ Jeremy protested as she awkwardly typed away. ‘If this is Waverly, we are way beyond Anakin and the dark side! He could move objects, but not an entire town!’

Up above them, a huge piece of ceiling broke away and fell straight towards Doc. Nicole spotted this and shove him out of the way taking the hit herself. Finding his feet, Doc returned the favour by moving the large piece of wood off her body and dragging her to safety under one of the other tables. Nicole remained unconscious as the earthquake continued to rage around them.

‘There must be another way!’ Jeremy cried desperately as he flicked through page after page on the internet and the library database. ‘There must!’

‘What if there isn’t?’ Pete tried to say gently, but it was difficult above the noise. ‘What the only way to stop this is to…’

‘No!’ Jeremy shouted shooting him down. ‘I am not losing my best friend… I’m simply not!’ He continued to type and scroll through the endless pages of research… until suddenly his eyes grew wide and alight. As they did, the shaking came to a sudden stop and everything became silent and still.

‘Is it over?’ Doc asked unsure as to whether to vacate his hiding place.

‘It would seem so…’ Nedley said nervously exiting the safety of the door frame.

‘Guys!’ Jeremy cried scrambling out of his hiding place with his laptop. ‘I know what we have to do!’

 

As they walked solemnly out of town, the group observed the destruction around them. The cost and death toll of the earthquake was going to be momentous, but in that moment they couldn’t react to the screams of agony and grief that were happening all around them. They knew that this was only going to get worse if they didn’t stop the demon that had possessed one of their own. In the safety of darkness, Nicole walked behind knowing that she still had no place to be among them. Instead her eyes were drawn to the lone figure standing upon the hill in the distance.

‘Oh Waverly… still be in there…’ she alone had the memory of what had to be done last time. She desperately hoped that the plan the group had devised was going to work.

Reaching the bottom of the hill, the group looked between themselves. It was clear that all were prepared to scale it and confront the demon waiting at the top. ‘Nicole and I will go…’ Wynonna told them. ‘I can’t risk anymore of you in this…’

‘No… absolutely not…’ Jeremy complained. ‘She is my best friend… I have to be there to help.’

Wynonna smiled understandingly at him, ‘I know Jeremy… but do you have any idea how much Waverly will bust my balls if I take you up there and get you killed?’

‘She’d never forgive herself… or you,’ he knew.

Wynonna placed a sympathetic hand upon his shoulder, ‘I need you down here… because if this goes tits up… you guys are the first front to do everything you can to save as many lives in that god forsaken town.’

Standing before her proudly, Dolls, Doc, Nedley, Jeremy and Pete nodded in totally comprehension of their place in this fight. Only Dolls moved forward to take Wynonna in his arms. She accepted a loving kiss on her lips before breaking away with no words to begin her march up the hill. Dolls knew he didn’t need to say any words – she knew his meaning. With one last look at the frightened group, armed with weapons that they knew would be no good against the evil that could rise; Nicole followed Wynonna up the hill.

 

At the top, The Commander, within Waverly’s body, admired the stone structure in front of him. It was filled with contorted faces of evil and suffering. Devils, demons and possessed people twisted in and out of each other as flames engulfed them. It was pivotal to him draining every ounce of magic out of the town to allow him to begin to take complete control of first the country and then onto the world.

Rising Waverly’s arms, The Commander began to utter the words of his spell, ‘Gods of old… I implore you… to hear my command… and make all souls within reach mine…’

‘Okay…’ came a voice which prompted The Commander to stop and whirl round. ‘… let me just stop you there.’ The Commander glared at Nicole and Wynonna as they appeared. ‘… because I really don’t intend to die or be soulless today.’

‘And I’ve just got mine back so…’ Nicole stated.

‘Petty petty creatures… do you really think you can stop me?’ The Commander laughed.

Wynonna and Nicole looked at each other, ‘do you really think we’d be here if we couldn’t?’ Wynonna quipped a little amused.

‘I can sense fear in you…’ The Commander said calmly.

‘Who are you… Yoda?’

The Commader just sniggered, ‘this little charade you have going on, filled with humour and sarcasm may fool them, but I can see right through you. You are terrified… and it’s delicious.’

‘I’m not afraid,’ Nicole weighed in. ‘Because I know how strong Waverly is… she’s stronger than the Sharman I had to kill… she will best you.’

‘That was you?’ The Commander asked impressed. ‘Then I owe you many thanks.’ Wynonna and Nicole looked at each other bewildered. ‘For centuries I have had to contend with the only other commander in existence, but after your little dabble with the knife… I am now the only one.’ It threw Waverly’s head back and laughed joyfully. ‘Now it can all be mine and only mine.’

‘Okay… so that’s enough out of you…’ Wynonna went on annoyed. She reached into her pocket ad pulled out a vile filled with a bright purple liquid. ‘This better work Jeremy…’ she murmured under breath before holding it out at arm’s length in front of her.

‘What’s this?’ The Commander snickered. ‘More tricks? Well, I’ve got some of my own…’ Waverly’s arm shot out as The Commander attempted to throw the pair off the hill but to his dismay, something was blocking him. Confused, he tried the other arm, but still nothing. ‘What… what have you done?’

Down below, Nedley stood apart from the group with a spell book in his hand muttering the words from the page under his breath. Beside him, Jeremy held up The Ord of Thesulah. They were using its power to block that of The Commander.

‘You ready?’ Wynonna said looking at Nicole. The vampire nodded. She wasn’t, but she would do anything for Waverly. At Nicole’s reply, Wynonna cleared her throat and stared at the vile in her hand. ‘That which is unwelcome, that which is uninvited… I call you out… I call you out!’ she glanced at Waverly’s dark form to see if the words were having any effect. It appeared not. ‘That which is possessed… that which is cast upon… I release you… I release you!’

It seemed like the words were still having no effect, ‘keep going,’ Nicole encouraged. Wynonna straightened herself and gripped the vile tighter and took a breath to begin again.

‘Nicole…’ Waverly’s voice ripped through the space between them.

It tapped into Nicole immediately, ‘Waves?’

It seemed as though Waverly was fighting back, ‘are you going to hurt me?’

‘No…’ Nicole insisted. ‘Of course not baby… we’re trying to save you…’

‘Then stop… what you’re doing is hurting me,’ Waverly seemed to continue. ‘I have to beat him on my own. I can baby… I can beat him.’

‘Okay okay…’ Nicole nodded. ‘We’ll stop… Wynonna?’

Nicole went to take a step forward but Wynonna pulled her back, ‘… wait…’ Wynonna warned her. Something was not right. ‘It’s not her…’

‘Nicole… please…’ came Waverly’s voice again.

‘How do you know?’ Nicole asked so fraught to take Waverly in her arms.

‘Waverly knows that we would never do anything to hurt her… so she’d never have to ask…’ Wynonna explained. At this, at the realisation that the trick had failed, Waverly’s human expression faded from her face and it was replaced by the cold and malicious one belonging to The Commander. Nicole was heartbroken by the revelation. Wynonna shook of the disturbing experience and focused her mind back on the spell. ‘That which is unwelcome, that which is uninvited… I call you out… I call you out! That which is possessed… that which is cast upon… I release you… I release you!’ she cried into the air holding the vile out towards the demon.

With a mighty growl, the demon flailed its arms in the air sending Wynonna flying through it towards the stone structure which had emerged from within the hill. The slayer was knocked out immediately. The move also simultaneously threw Nedley through the air as he attempt to block The Commander’s powers had come to an abrupt end. Whilst The Commander cackled at its victory, Nicole noticed that Wynonna had dropped the vile on the floor. In one swift motion, she rolled across the floor, swept it up and held it out in front of her just as Wynonna had. ‘That which is possessed… that which is cast upon… I release you… I release you! That which is possessed… that which is cast upon… I release you… I release you! Waverly, I release you!’

At first it appeared that the frantic words had had no effect as The Commander laughed wickedly and raised Waverly’s arms to the air ready to begin its own spell to complete what it had set out to do. Then, just as he began to talk again, he stopped, noticing that the liquid within the small vile had begun to glow more brightly. Nicole also stared at it in surprise. Abruptly, two lightning bolts shot out of it, one into The Commander and one into Nicole. As they did, both shook and convulsed in agony. Behind The Commander, Wynonna came round to witness the extraordinary sight. She clambered to her feet as finally the lightning bolts disappeared and both Waverly’s body and Nicole’s collapsed to the floor. In the sudden silence, Wynonna was afraid to approach either of them.

It was Waverly’s body that moved first. Sluggishly, she raised her head and opened her eyes. Wynonna instantly started crying in relief as she looked into the eyes of those that belonged to Waverly Gibson, ‘Wynonna?’ Waverly croaked. The veins had also disappeared from her face and her hair slowly turned back into her beautiful, brown locks. ‘What…?’ she began only to be interrupted by a sound from a few feet away from them. Both looked round to see Nicole’s body writhing and twisting on the floor. With difficulty, she managed to get to her feet only for her face to contort and change horribly. One moment it was Nicole, then it was of something unbearably demonic. The veins appeared and disappeared, her face stretched and morphed, the vampire became evident then was fought down. ‘What’s going on?’ Waverly asked Wynonna as the slayer helped her up.

‘The demon is inside Nicole now… she’s fighting it…’

The struggle seemed to go on for longer than either Wynonna or Waverly could bear. As the vampire appeared it gritted its teeth in fortitude as the demon tried to break through. But after reducing Nicole to a squirming heap on the floor letting out screams of agony, the demon let out one last might roar then all was quiet once again. Holding onto each other, Wynonna and Waverly didn’t dare to move but it wasn’t long before Waverly’s emotions took over. She broke free of Wynonna’s clutches and fell to Nicole’s side as the vampire lay motionless with her eyes closed.

‘She can’t be dead…’ Waverly said frantically. ‘If she were dead… she’d be ash…’ She carefully placed her hands on Nicole’s face, desperate to see any sign of life. She could not check for breath or a pulse. ‘Nicole…? Baby… please…’ Behind her, the others were making their way up the hill; their eyes soon fell upon the grave sight. Nedley looked to Wynonna who shook her head sadly. At the expense of getting back Waverly… they might have lost Nicole. Waverly however was not going to give up. ‘Nicole…’ she brought her face close to Nicole’s. ‘… you can’t be dead… I don’t know how to go on without you…’ The faces behind her became solemn as still Nicole did not move. Sobs began to choke Waverly as she shook Nicole again, ‘Nicole… please… baby… please…’

Apart from Waverly’s sobs, there was no other sound up on the hill… until it was broken by sudden breathless gasping. In shock, Waverly watched as Nicole opened her eyes and stared up at her. In relief, Jeremy clapped his hand over his mouth and grabbed hold of Pete whilst Nedley took off his glasses rubbed his eyes as the emotion began to overwhelm him. Still with his spell book in his hand he sat down on the grass looking back at the town. Relief soon became overpowering exhaustion.

‘Nicole?’ Waverly asked taking Nicole’s face in her hands.

For the first time in weeks, their eyes met in love and complete devotion. Nicole smiled, reached up and stroked Waverly’s cheek, ‘yes baby… it’s me…’ No more words needed to be exchanged as the two fell into a tender kiss. Unable to prevent a tear from escaping her eyes, Wynonna made her way round to Dolls and fell into his arms but she did not take her gaze off the sight that none of them thought they would see.

Waverly broke the kiss to look into the eyes that she had missed so much, ‘I thought I’d never get you back…’

‘I’m never leaving you again,’ Nicole promised her. She sat up allowing her to wrap her arms around Waverly more easily as they kissed again. It didn’t bother them who was watching, all that mattered is that they had each other again.

Wiping another tear from her cheek, Wynonna was finding it all a bit much. Her eyes drifted to the horrendous stone statue that loomed over them, ‘okay… so how do we explain this to the town council? I’m sure you need planning permission for stuff like this.’ As if it heard her, the stone statue suddenly began to shake and break up. As the pieces began to fall around them, Waverly and Nicole broke their kiss to retreat to safety along with the rest of the group. Soon, all that was left was a pile of rubble on the floor. ‘Excellent…’ Wynonna said pleasantly surprised. ‘It must know how much I hate clearing up after other people’s messes.’

Together, the group looked back down on the town below, ‘they don’t know how close they came…’ Dolls stated as he held Wynonna close.

‘And we should make sure it stays that way…’ Nedley told them. ‘Some of this town should remain oblivious to the horrors and darkness that surrounds them every day.’

It was a sombre but all too real thought. ‘At least there’s one less now…’ Jeremy offered.

‘Actually two…’ Waverly pointed out as she rested her head on Nicole’s shoulder.

‘Yes,’ Wynonna acknowledged. ‘That is one very good consolation I will take.’

 

In the safety of the library, as the sun began to rise for morning, the group sat gathered around clutching cups of coffee and tucking into biscuits. Each and every one of them looked shattered but ultimately thankful at the conclusion of what had been a very difficult couple of months. In one of the chairs, Waverly sat in Nicole’s lap as the two held each other tightly. Waverly’s left hand rested upon Nicole’s neck. It might have been cold to the touch, but it was a feeling she had longed for.

‘So… the demon jumped into Nicole?’ Waverly asked.

‘Yes…’ Jeremy replied after a sip of coffee. ‘The only way to defeat the demon was to kill it, but as it could not exist as an entity on its own. It had to have a host. Now apart from some magic powers…’ At this Waverly shot him an unimpressed look, ‘… okay apart from some wicked magic powers, you are ultimately human, so the demon was bound to that.’

‘The same as the Sharman,’ Nicole added. ‘He might have been powerful, but he was human.’

‘However… Nicole has demon inside her… something which could defeat The Commander…’ Jeremy went on. ‘The Commander could not bind onto demons, only humans.’

‘So Nicole could kill The Commander, without killing herself,’ Waverly realised.

‘Exactly,’ Jeremy said proudly.

‘Well done you,’ Waverly cooed at Nicole stroking her hair.

‘Anything for you,’ Nicole whispered back. Forgetting where they were, the two leaned in until their lips met in another sweet kiss. The others allowed this for a while, but it seemed like the two were not going to part anytime soon.

‘Oh god we’re back to this again,’ Wynonna groaned turning away. All the others did the same as they vacated their seats, ‘remind me why we agreed to help Nicole get her soul back again?’

‘So Waverly would no longer be in pain and Nicole would stop killing us,’ Dolls answered amused as he threw his arm around Wynonna’s shoulders.

‘Ah yes… very good point…’

One by one, the others filed out of the library into the morning light as, in the safety of library’s shade, Nicole and Waverly dissolved into each other. As their lips parted and pressed together repeatedly, they didn’t even notice that the others had gone.

 

Undoing his gun belt, Doc let out a long sigh as he entered the house and sunk into his arm chair. Beside him a half drunk bottle of whiskey sat. He didn’t even bother to pour a glass; instead he swigged it straight from the bottle as he thought about the events from the past few nights. His face was still covered in cuts and bruises from his encounter in the cave.

‘It’s never a good sign when you drink like that…’ came Rosita’s voice from the shadows. As sunlight streamed into the house, she had carefully positioned herself in a corner away from any windows.

‘It’s been a long few nights…’

‘Did it work?’ Rosita asked.

‘If you mean, did Nicole regain her soul? Then yes… in that part, we were successful.’

Rosita was unsettled by his depressed tone, ‘why are you not happy about that?’

‘Because my dear… it came at a great cost,’ he took another long swig of whiskey and still did not look at her.

‘Meaning that…’ she already knew.

‘For now… it cannot be attempted on you…’ Doc summed up sadly. There was nothing else to say. The full ramifications of his words were just too painful to completely contemplate. Instead, they fell into silence as Doc continued to swig down the whiskey, hoping that soon he would forget the bleak future that he and Rosita faced.

 

Dolls unlocked the door, but allowed Wynonna to enter the apartment first. Wynonna traipsed in, dragging her feet and dropped her stake and jacket on the floor before collapsing on the sofa in the middle of the room.

Unexpectedly nervous, Dolls just looked down at her, ‘so uh… do you want breakfast? I could go out and get coffee… bagels? Or…’ he went into the kitchen and began to open and close various cupboards. ‘I have bread here… do you want toast? I don’t really have anything to go on the toast… but…’

‘Dolls’ Wynonna was endeared by his flailing. ‘I just want to sleep…’

‘Oh…’ Dolls closed the cupboard he’d just opened and wandered back into the living room. ‘… okay… well you can have the bed… I should sleep on the sofa… you know, it’s gentlemanly…’

From still lying down, Wynonna smiled at the adorable man. She moved forward slightly to make room behind her, ‘come down and lie with me…’ Despite being a little surprised, Dolls carefully lay down behind Wynonna and wrapped his arms around her to hold her tight. ‘I just need to sleep and want you to hold me…’ She took hold of Dolls hand and brought it up so that he was holding her even more closely. Even though she could not get Doc out of her mind, the biggest part of her heart didn’t want to be anywhere else or with anyone else. For the first time in months, she finally felt some remanence of safe.

 

Having returned to the library, almost out of a sense of duty, Jeremy helped Nedley to clear up after the many events that had taken place over the past few days. The rubble they could remove had been swept away and they were working on the ingredients used in The Restoration Spell that had become scattered on the floor. As Jeremy carefully separated the ingredients into bags, Nedley stopped is work and watched the young man.

‘You know Jeremy,’ he began. ‘A big part of the success of the past few days, is because of you.’

‘Oh no,’ Jeremy said waving the comment away embarrassed. ‘… I just helped.’

‘You did more than help. Who found the translation for the spell? Who worked out how to defeat The Commander? Who ultimately keeps this group together when all seems lost?’

‘Well okay… if you put it like that,’ Jeremy joked to cover his awkwardness.

‘You are far more than a so-called freak that was very wrongly bulled in the hallways of this school for so long…’ Nedley went on. He crossed the room over to Jeremy and placed a proud hand on his shoulder. ‘… you are an incredible and brave young man and you have saved so many lives. Something which the likes of Mercedes and her sheep will never lay a claim to. I want you to remember that, the next time any of them are giving you grief.’

There were almost tears in Jeremy’s eyes as he nodded, ‘thank you… I will remember that the next time I get a wedgy after gym practise.’

‘They still do those?’ Nedley asked surprised.

‘Oh yes… guinea pig number one on how to make it the most painful…’ Jeremy sighed pointing to himself.

‘Those arrogant clowns,’ Nedley breathed out angrily. ‘They will never develop into decent human beings… it’s wise to take some comfort in that thought when you can.’

‘But we still have to protect them though right?’ Jeremy exhaled.

‘Absolutely… because we are the good ones… and you are one of the best.’

‘Please stop,’ Jeremy laughed. Nedley’s gaze then lingered on Jeremy a while. Jeremy tried to endure it, but it soon became a little uncomfortable. ‘Okay… now please stop that.’

‘Would you ever be interested in becoming a watcher Jeremy?’ Nedley asked.

Jeremy felt his breath catch in this throat in shock; he coughed for a few moments before he could speak. ‘… are you serious?’

‘Deadly,’ Nedley nodded. ‘Your knowledge of the slayer’s history, abilities and needs is boundless, along with your ability to read and translate texts from the oldest of origins and your knowledge of science and now spells. I’d say that, if it wasn’t for my years of experience, you would be more qualified than me!’

‘Oh wow… that really is the greatest of compliments,’ Jeremy smiled. Then a thought hit him. ‘Can a werewolf be a watcher?’

Nedley thought for a moment, ‘well it’s about time the Watcher’s Council modernised a bit…’ Together they laughed as they returned to clearing up the ingredients from the floor. As Jeremy did so, a proud grin appeared on his face.

 

Having safely woven their way through the many underground tunnels, Waverly and Nicole arrived safely at Nicole’s apartment. To Waverly, seemed like it was a dream to be walking in hand in hand again. Nicole closed the door before turning to see Waverly waiting eagerly in the middle of the room. They were exhausted, but they had no mind to sleep. With a loving smile, Nicole brought her arms around Waverly’s waist to pull her in. Waverly happily complied as their lips met again. At first, their kisses were soft and sweet but soon there was more fervency in them. Waverly cupped Nicole’s face, loving the feel of the cool soft skin in her palms. Her fingers were then in Nicole’s hair, enjoying the silky feel of it falling between them. She brought herself up onto tiptoes so that she could kiss Nicole more firmly. Breath escaped her lips more chastely as the yearning built inside her. Her hands left Nicole’s hair and began pushing the vampire’s coat from her shoulders. Nicole contently shrugged it off before wrapping her arms around Waverly again pulling her in. As their bodies pressed into each other, their tongues danced and hands entwined.

‘Okay… Waverly… wait…’ reluctantly, Nicole pulled away.

‘What?’ Waverly asked sweetly keeping their faces close. ‘What is it?’

‘You know we can’t do this…’ Nicole reminded her with great disinclination. Every part of her body was screaming to touch Waverly and get lost in her arms. The sadness in Waverly’s eyes caused the vampire much affliction. ‘… if we do, I will lose my…’

Waverly stopped her with a single finger on Nicole’s lips, ‘I know…’ she was just as pained but she understood the unfortunate truth. ‘And I cannot go through that again… ever.’

‘You know I want to…’ Nicole continued unable to help her eyes cast themselves over Waverly’s body. She admired its curves, the feel of its warmth and the sound of the heartbeat within. ‘… so much. And…’ she paused in trepidation. ‘… I understand that if we can’t have that, you want to…’

‘What?’ Waverly interrupted again. ‘Leave? Break up with you?’ Nicole averted her eyes. ‘Never.’ Waverly stated firmly using a finger on Nicole’s chin to bring her face back round. ‘Nicole… look at me.’ The vampire did as she was told as her eyes lingered away. ‘… I love you… this…’ she ran her hands up Nicole’s shoulders to her face so she could cup it lovingly. ‘… this is enough…’ Softly, she ran her finger across Nicole’s lips, ‘kissing you is enough…’ With a little smile, the two leaned in to do just that. When they parted, Waverly placed their foreheads together. ‘I don’t want to go even another hour without you…’

‘Waves… you can never predict what life will throw at us…’ Nicole said gently.

‘Then let’s live for the now,’ Waverly replied. ‘We saved the world, I saved you and you saved me… I’d say that right now, that’s all we need. Let’s face tomorrow when it comes. Right now, I just need to sleep.’

‘Don’t you have school today?’ Nicole wondered.

‘I just restored your soul, got possessed by a demon, destroyed half of town and caused Purgatory’s one and only ever recorded earthquake… I think after all of that, I think I deserve the day off.’

Nicole shook her head with admiration, ‘I love you Waverly Gibson…’

‘You have no idea how good that is to hear again…’ Waverly smiled. Her arms snaked up around Nicole’s neck as they enjoyed another kiss.

‘Didn’t you want to sleep?’

‘I’m suddenly not that tired…’ It was the answer Nicole wanted to hear. As if the last few weeks had been forgotten, the two lost themselves in each other’s arms. There would be questions, there would be consequences, but for now, all that mattered was that they had each other again, something Waverly thought she would never experience again.

 

 


End file.
